Where Lightning and Shadow Collide
by good ole days
Summary: New Ch 9 up. Raiko Hattori is a fifth year at our favorite school for witchcraft and wizardry. She learns a lot of things about life and light from the one she saves from the darkness. DMxOC. r&r.
1. First Mission

Authors note: as this will be about some of hp's 6th year, it may have some stuff that does not happen and I may be missing some stuff. If I can I will try to integrate JKR's stuff into the story. If not, you will be able to see my version of writing, though I will put as much in as possible. My apologies for getting the idea for this fic right before hp 6 comes out.

Enjoy, and as always, review.

Hattori Raiko stood outside the scarlet train that would be taking her to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in two hours. It was now exactly 9:00. She didn't have to look at her watch to tell her that. She had been waiting for a certain boy who had just lost his god-father three months ago after unceremoniously losing his parents. At the moment she was wearing her school uniform, which consisted of large poofy sneakers (red), khaki slacks, a white polo shirt and a blue knitted vest on top. At the moment the vest wasn't too bad, but she knew the later September weather would make her take it off eventually.

Another passenger entered Platform 9 and ¾ and her heart leapt. He was here. She was here to help him because she had been told to do so. Precognitive dreams were no mystery to Raiko, so she knew she had to help the boy.

Harry Potter stood in Dudley's stupid clothes that were much too large for him. He had gotten to the train early because he had hoped to think, and the Dursley's were only too willing to comply. For the last three months he had stayed at the Dursley's stupid suburban home shut up in his room- because he had wanted to. At night he grabbed some food and the rest of the filthy muggles he was supposed to call family left him alone. It was good to go back to Hogwarts, but it was also good to get away.

When Harry saw some Asian girl with a briefcase with backpack straps and formal clothes at the platform, he sighed. He had wanted to be alone, but that was just his luck. And when she started walking towards him he groaned. He did not expect the next words to come out of her mouth.

"You're right on time. That's good. It will give us enough time," she said. The odd girl grabbed his hand and started into the train.

Harry was surprised for a moment, but after passing a few of the rooms he pulled away. "Where are you taking me? I can walk on my own you know. "What do you want?" His voice sounded rough, and he was surprised at show much he sounded like that stupid git, Draco.

"We need to find somewhere to talk and where you will want to talk to your friends afterwards. Let me explain what I'm doing then. If I told you now you wouldn't want to, but I assure you it is for your own good. Please come," she pleaded.

Harry was caught off guard. He ran his fingers through his hair to give it a windswept look, a habit he had gotten from his dad. "Fine, but this room will do as well as any other."

She slid open the door and let Harry in first. She let him sit down first and then sat down herself. She started looking out the window and told him, "My name is Raiko Hattori, in the English order of things. You don't know abut me, but very few people do. I am here to let you be weak."

Harry lifted his eyebrow. This was one weird witch.

"I know that sounds strange, but please, bear with me." She looked at him now. Her black eyes were different than Snape's and Hagrid's and all the other black-eyed people he had ever met. "I want you to tell me all you need about your godfather, Sirius Black."

Harry stood and glared at her. "Who-are-you?" he spaced the words evenly.

Her black eyes sparkled with sadness. "My name is Raiko Hattori. I am a fifth year student. I work for the side you and Dumbledore stand for in the coming war. Right now you are filled with grief, Harry, but please…" she stood up next to him so close that their noses were no farther away than a pinky nail. "…let me mourn for you, instead. Sometimes you can mourn in a dark room by yourself, but usually the burden doesn't lift. Sometimes you need to tell someone about it so that you can live with out carrying all the weight. It's like telling someone about a bad dream.

"Right now, Harry, you don't want to tell Ron or Hermoine about Sirius, because you need to be strong for them. Since Dumbledore did not tell you about the prophecy, you feel you cannot trust him. And you feel that you cannot burden anyone else with the misery that you feel so strongly, and that everyone else has not gained enough trust from you.

"I know that I am one of the latter people, but I don't want to be. Harry, I want you to let me be the one that you can cry on. Let me carry your grief for a little while, just so you can show your friends that you are strong and tell them that when you _are_ a little bit stronger, you will fill them in.

The next words shattered Harry's resolve more completely than any words had ever done before. "Let me be the shoulder you can cry on."

The walls Harry had been constructing all summer fell down in an instant. Harry, though he was a good ten centimeters taller than this strange Asian girl named Raiko, put his shoulder at the crook of her neck and started crying. Raiko slowly lowered herself down onto her seat and Harry knelt before her, crying into her stomach. After a while, she could finally hear his words.

"Why did he leave me?" he cried. "Why hasn't he come back for me? I _need_ him!"

"I don't know what you are feeling Harry, and not to sound rude, but I am glad I don't. I never want to be as sad as you are right now. Most kids get to know their parents while they grow, but you have been an orphan for almost fifteen years. To lose then, the next best thing, someone who was like a brother to you, must be horrible. But that doesn't make you feel any better, does it?"

She felt him shake his head.

"I like to think that we don't know whether or not Sirius is dead. I like to think that, yes, he may be in the realm of the dead visiting your parents, but that he will come back." Harry looked up at her with red eyes and a tear-stained face still holding her lower back. "I think that if I were Sirius, I would be so happy with reuniting with my two best friends who have been missing for fifteen years, I might forget that I had a godchild still waiting for me." Harry frowned. "But after a while, Harry, the novelty will wear off and he will remember. You have to give him that chance."

Harry thought for a while. "I'll… try." He put his face close to her stomach and said, "I'll try really hard."

Raiko jumped up suddenly and threw poor Harry to the ground. "I almost forgot!" She opened her briefcase and Harry got slowly up from the floor. "Ah-hah!" She handed him a small rectangular birthday present. The wrapping was crinkled and the bow was squished. "Happy (Belated) Birthday," said the card.

He opened the present and grinned when he saw a chocolate bar. "Thanks. I should eat this now, huh."

"Truth be told, I would have given it to you if your birthday was in January, but since your birthday is so close, I thought, why not?"

His grin became even wider, "Gee, that makes me feel special."

She laughed. "That's the old Harry I know." Raiko ruffled his hair and laughed again. Her laugh was like a wind-chime, he thought. "Eat it all, and then you can tell me about Sirius."

After he was done he told her everything he knew, from his first meeting with Sirius to his plans for when Sirius was his godfather and Harry was out of school. Talking to her was like talking to himself, but better and freer. For the first time since Sirius's death, Harry felt…_alive._ "I'm really glad I was on time," he told her when he could think of nothing else. The door slid open and Ron and Hermoine stood in the doorway. Raiko got up and bowed to him, and then to his friends.

"It was nice to talk to you Harry-kun. I hope we meet again soon. Weasley-san, Hermoine-chan. I will leave him with you." She went through the space Ron and Hermoine made for her departure and traveled to the middle of the train for an empty box. As she looked back, Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood entered Harry's box, too. With only fifteen minutes till departure, the spaces were filling up quickly. Finally she found and empty room, so Raiko sat down on one of the couch like seats, curled up, and fell asleep. It had been a long day.


	2. New Mission and New Professor

_Raiko curled closer to herself in a fetal position and opened her eyes. It was very dark. All she could see was herself._

_She looked out into the darkness and heard a noise in the great expanse. "Somebody, help me!"_

_Raiko scrambled up as fast as she could and sprinted towards the voice. "Somebody, help me!" She ran as fast as her body would let her, but still she felt herself slow. She looked up again and found a boy standing next to her holding a golden light in his palms. "I don't want to be alone anymore," he cried._

_Raiko put his hands in hers and focused on the light. She put her light into it and saw the light grow. It was still fading!_

"_Who are you?" asked the boy in a whisper. "How come I can't see you?"_

"_My name is Raiko Hattori. We haven't met yet, but I have seen you before, although I don't know your name."_

"_Are you going to help me? I don't want to be in the dark."_

_Raiko stood on her tip toes and put her face next to his. She nodded and told him with her mouth next to his ear, "I will help you very soon."_

_-_

Draco Malfoy stepped into the scarlet train that would take him to Hogwarts. He looked into each box to see if he could find an empty seat, or someone to bully a seat out of. Or just someone-Potter, Weasley, Granger- to bully.

And here they were sitting in a little box of their own. "Potty, Mudblood, Weasel. It's a shame you haven't succumbed to Voldemort yet. I was hoping to get some new material, but the old stuff will do just as well I suppose." He walked off so he didn't have to be witness to Potter and Granger hold Weasley down.

-

Six cars from the back of the train he found an almost empty box. In it, a girl was sleeping. He closed the sliding door behind him and winced at the click- he really did not need this girl to wake up. It would be better if she would just sleep until they got to Hogwarts. He sat down and peered at the sleeping girl. Was she crying?

The girl suddenly woke up and buried her head in her hands. "Never seen someone so sad. Never, ever, ever. Have to find them soon," she mumbled. The girl groaned and looked up at him. She stared at him for a moment before fully comprehending he was there. She stood up and bowed slightly to him. "Oh. Gods, I… don't know you. Can't remember." She looked at him strangely and asked him, "Do you need this room?"

"Well-"

"Ah! It doesn't matter. I'll just go."

Before she left Draco told her. "Your vest is wet."

She looked down at her self, and told him "Arigato, Malfoy-san," as she ran out the door.

That was weird. He thought she had said she didn't know him.

-

Raiko walked down the hall and tried to find an empty seat. She looked into the last box and found a young lady sleeping on one of the seats. The lady had chestnut colored hair and a voluptuous body. She was wearing a dark purple robe that had a similar design to the students' uniforms except the sleeves were much wider. If Raiko had to guess she would say the lady was maybe twenty six or seven; and probably the new DA the DA teacher. Raiko followed the teacher's example and fell promptly asleep, this time she had no dreams.

-

"So who was that girl, mate?" asked Ron now that the girl had left.

"Seriously, Ron. You don't remember?" reprimanded Hermione.

Ron thought for a bit and then chirped, "Not a bit. So tell me."

Hermione sighed and said, "It's the girl who asked us about Harry a week after our night at the Ministry. She's a Ravenclaw fifth year, although I'll admit to not remembering her name."

"Her name is Raiko." Harry told them. "She helped me sort some… problems I had. We talked about Sirius." He said the last part in a whisper almost to quiet to hear.

"How are ya doin' then?" prodded Ron.

Harry smiled in a way that Ron and Hermione had forgotten existed. It was one of those million-watt smiles that clear the clouds. "Much, much better."

The tension in the room visibly eased, which was just as well, for a moment later Ginny and Luna appeared. It was going to be a good year, no matter what Malfoy, Voldemort, or the new DADA teacher did.

-

Draco heard the door open and shut as he looked out the window. It was Crabbe and Goyle, the epitome in stupid henchmen. "Go away. I don't want to talk to either of you until tomorrow." They dutifully left and Draco sighed. He needed to find someone to talk to who could actually keep up a conversation and maybe even play wizard's chess. Not that he wanted to be beaten by someone other than his father, but he needed to find someone who could actually give him a run for his money. He needed someone who didn't just laugh whenever a piece destroyed another.

At least he had found a new victim to bully, she seemed awfully nervous around him.

Father had not visited the mansion all summer. He did not know where Voldemort and His stooges were hiding, but that was definitely what they were doing. They were waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike down DUMBledore and then Harry Potter.

This was going to be a long, nervous year.

-

"Miss? Excuse me, miss?"

Raiko opened her eyes to see the lady with the candy-cart shaking her awake.

"It's still a few hours until the train stops, and I think you should get something to eat."

Raiko shook herself awake and then thought about what she wanted. "I'll take a strawberry soda and three chocolate frogs. Plus a cauldron cake."

"What was the first item, miss?

"A strawberry-oh… A strawberry fizzy."

"Very good, miss. That will be a sixteen knuts."

Raiko paid the lady the money, received her purchased food, and looked at the sleeping woman who shared the room with her. It seemed only fair to try and wake her. Raiko knelt down beside the woman and asked gently while shaking the lady's shoulder, "Sensei? Do you want to get anything to eat, sensei?" The lady stirred but seemed to fall into a deeper sleep than before.

"It's all right, miss. I'll be at the front of the train if the professor comes around. You can tell her that-"

"No," the professor groaned. "It's alright. I'm up, I'm up." She looked blearily up at the woman with the cart. "D'you have anything substantial?"

"Well, ma'am. I've got sandwiches, but that's about it.

"How big are they?" The cart woman motioned and made a triangle with her forefingers and thumbs. "I'll take eight."

The cart woman bent down to get the professor her food when Raiko said, "Please sensei. You don't need to buy so much. I have lots of extra food that my mom packed for me and a potential friend. I'd love to share. It's Japanese, but it s really good."

The professor thought for a moment and said, "Make that four, but I will share with you too if you are going to be so gracious."

"That'll be eight knuts," said the cart-woman. She was paid, gave the sandwiches to the professor, and left.

Raiko got out her bento boxes and untied the handkerchief around them. She opened both and then handed one to the professor. "The chopsticks and napkins are in a compartment on the bottom." Raiko broke her chopsticks apart and asked the professor, "What is your name, sensei?"

"Sensei is teacher, right? I am Professor Apperson. I teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. What's your name?"

"Raiko Hattori. I really hope you'll be the one who breaks the curse on DADA teachers. You seem very nice."

Professor Apperson laughed. "That better not be flattery. This food is really good."

Raiko smiled. "That's because my mom is the best cook. She taught me everything I know about cooking."

"Well, if you can cook half as well as this, I won't mind the flattery at all!"

Raiko and Professor Apperson talked until the train was almost to Hogwarts. It seemed that they had a lot in common when it came to food and travel. As Raiko left the little room the had stayed in for the past seven hours, she turned and said goodbye to Professor Apperson.

"I look forward to seeing what kind of student you are, especially since you are a Ravenclaw. I was one too in my time."

This was going to be a fun year.


	3. Dream Analysis and Worries

"Ginny-chan, Luna-chan! The girls turned in their carriage seats to see Raiko running towards them. When she finally reached the carriage she was panting and sweating profusely.

"You didn't need to run, Raiko. We would have waited for you," laughed Ginny.

"Well, at least we had a good laugh," said Luna. Her blonde hair looked silver in the moonlight. The moon had been full a few nights ago so there was still enough light to see by as Raiko struggled to climb into the carriage pulled by invisible horses (or so Raiko supposed). The girls talked as they waited to get to Hogwarts. Summer vacation, Harry Potter, and Raiko's new missions were discussed. When they got to Raiko's missions, Raiko became very depressed.

"I don't even know his name, and he seems to be in the most dire need. He is even more terrified of the dark than Harry was," Raiko moaned and put her face in her hands, "The worst part is that, when I came to, I saw someone with me. I was too flustered to see if it was the right person."

Ginny asked, "What did the boy look like? That could help you find him, and if Luna or I know anything we'll tell you anything we know about him."

"Personally, I'm surprised Raiko doesn't know. I thought she knew everyone." Luna had put down the latest edition of the Quibbler to say something in the conversation.

Raiko told them what the boy looked like and Ginny and Luna gave each other a quick glance. As much as she hated to admit it, Luna's remark stung. She had prided herself on knowing everyone, even the first year's who were new, and had striven to do so since she first stepped through the halls of Hogwarts. She had just forgotten someone, she told herself.

"Well, if the muggle clothing is anything to go by, we can cross off all Slytherin students and the Weasley family, although none of us have blonde hair. That will be the main thing to go by if you ask me. It won't be someone from Ravenclaw, because you would have recognized them, and they won't be first years," stated Ginny matter-of-factly.

"Why not a first year?" asked Raiko, although she already knew the answer.

"The description doesn't fit height-wise. You said he had to be over 175 centimeters tall. From what Ron and Hermione said, there was no one near that height. They also won't be from Gryffindor, because then _I_ would have recognized the description. You'll need to watch the Hufflepuff table during dinner tonight."

The carriage came to a stop and the three girls- first Luna, then Ginny, then Raiko- got out of the carriage. Ginny made sure to wait up for Raiko at the threshold, and then pulled her into the shadow of a pillar.

"Wha?"

"Raiko. You spoke to Harry today, right? How is he?" asked Ginny.

Raiko looked out to the lake and saw the first-year boats ¾ of the way through. The moon reflected off the water. It was very beautiful really. Raiko looked back at the girl who had pulled her into the part of the world Raiko had always been most comfortable in- shadow. Did she have to break the beauty? She faced Ginny and saw the telltale sparkle of unshed tears. "He will get better, with time… but not even time can heal old wounds. There will be many scars." She heard Ginny hiccup, but she could not stop now. Her friend needed to hear this. "Stand by him and be the salve that will erase those scars. Give him space, and he will go to you. I think, right now anyway, that you feel you need him more than he needs you." Ginny started crying silently. Kami she hated doing this. "Ginny. You will be needed, especially after the final battle. I can't predict who he will choose to have as his own… but in the end, should he not find happiness with you, you will be one of his greatest friends." Raiko put her arms around Ginny's sobbing form. As Ginny cried, Raiko prayed to whatever kami were listening. _Prevent Harry from doing anything stupid that would hurt Ginny. _She was glad Cho had been acting selfish lately. Maybe Ginny had a chance with Harry. She looked out onto the lake and saw where the boats were.

Raiko squeaked. "Ginny! The first-years are coming. We have to go inside."

"I can't go in like this! Ron will be furious and everyone will stare," Ginny whined.

"Well, we at least should move into the castle. We can stay in the lavatory until you feel better."

"We?" she asked looking up at Raiko.

Raiko broke the hug and started pulling Ginny up the steps into the castle by her right hand. "You are way more important than seeing a couple of eleven year olds, and I can always look for the boy at breakfast." They made their way into the castle and towards the girl's lavatory. "Besides, that old hat gives me the creeps."

At this, Ginny laughed and hurried more closely to Raiko as they walked. Once in the lavatory Raiko and Ginny sat down at one of the many stone benches adorning the lavatory. Raiko had always thought the benches were a waste of space, but today her views changed a little. Ginny was a reason for these benches.

After twenty minutes of waiting, the girl's stomachs growled. Raiko stood up and said, "Do you want to go now?"

Ginny shook her head. "No. I think I'll stay here a while longer."

"Long enough to eat dinner?" asked Raiko.

Ginny laughed. "Might as well. I really don't feel like going to the great hall right now."

"I'll go get us some vitals, then." Raiko started walking towards the door when Ginny stopped her.

"No, you really don't have to," she said from her chair.

Raiko came back and knelt at Ginny's feet. "Yes. I really do." With that, Raiko left to go get some food from the great hall.

-

Draco sat down in the seat he always took in the great hall. It was perfect because the Golden Trio always sat down in the same spot at the Gryffindor table, which happened to be in perfect view of Draco's chair. It really was a small world.

Crabbe and Goyle- he had never found himself able to address them as Crabbe, Goyle, or Goyle and Crabbe; it just sounded to weird and they were never apart anyway- grunted as they took the two seats beside him. Pansy Parkinson sat in front of him. Pity she had grown taller, he couldn't see as well now. Pansy- what kind of name was that? It sounded like an insult to him- was talking to another Slytherin girl and he took the time to tell Crabbe and Goyle (it was _impossible_ to say _Goyle and Crabbe_) a new game he had invented. "You know that girl who was in the train car with me earlier this morning? No? Damn. If I see her I'll show her to you. Point is, I want all the facts on her, and I want her scared to leave her dormitory."

Pansy- that name put a foul taste in his mouth- turned back to him and smiled a _You know you missed me_ smile. Draco ignored her and gave his attention to Dumbledore- or at least, that's what his body language was supposed to tell the girl in front of him who was practically begging him to rape her. Maybe he would do the bitch a favor and spend the night with her one time. Right now she was just being too damn annoying to pay attention to though.

"Bla Sorting Hat bla. Bla six boys and seven girls for Slytherin bla. Bla Professor Apperson bla bla bla bla bla Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor." She's cute, went through Draco's mind before he tuned out Dumbledore again and focused on the professor, another new victim. She would be leaving before the end of September once he was through with her. Pity she was so hot though. It would be a shame to see her leave. "Bla bla bla bla bla bla bla Forbidden Forest is forbidden." Wow- what a novel idea. "Bla School song, bla bla Words of wisdom: gibberish." And the four words Draco had been waiting for: "Let the feast, begin." Food appeared on the plates. These delicacies would not grace Draco's well-sculpted lips tonight. He wasn't hungry anymore, and as he looked at Pansy let her bosom rest on the table, he resisted the urge to gag. Those clumps of fat were disgusting!

One hour. One hour.

-

Raiko entered the hall with minimal glances. The feast was too good to watch a late comer for anymore than a second. She sat down at the Ravenclaw table and asked for a tray. One immediately appeared and she loaded it with heaps of food. If Ginny didn't like it then she could come in herself. She got back up and walked towards the door. Before she left, she gave the teacher's table a perfunctory glance. She saw Dumbledore's eyes raise and she shrugged at him before he gave his attention back to Professor McGonagall. She left the door and ran straight into Ginny.

Ginny grinned sheepishly at Raiko before saying, "_Scourgify." _Immediately, Raiko's robes were free of mashed potatoes, gravy, and meat juices, and she smelled lemony fresh to boot.

"Roses smell much better, thank you very much," Raiko squeezed out before laughing with Ginny. When they finally reined themselves in, Raiko wiped her eyes (it really wasn't that funny, but it's the simple things that count) and said, "You're feeling better, I surmise."

"Yeah," replied Ginny. "And I don't want Ron to freak out to much."

Raiko nodded knowingly and opened the door for Ginny and bowed. Ginny curtsied and went in with Raiko following. There were a few more glances than last time, but the two girls got to their seats without causing too much of a hubbub. Ginny sat down amid curious glances from the Gryffindor students. Hermione told Ron to wait until they were in the common room before accusing and interrogating Ginny. Harry pulled a Dumbledore and Ginny pulled a Raiko and the feast restarted. Raiko received only one glance from a blonde haired boy and two cronies from a Slytherin table (which she missed entirely) and was otherwise ignored.

The feast went on, but fifteen minutes before it would come to a close, Draco decided to leave. He passed the Ravenclaw table to get out and escaped into the castle. Maybe the dungeons would cool him off.

Raiko gave the hall a glance before eating her long awaited supper when her heart stopped. It was the boy she had seen- at the Slytherin table? Slytherins were muggle haters she thought. Why would the boy be wearing muggle clothes? She watched him for a while; she did not even glance at the food she ate before she put it in her mouth. The feast had just stated hen she first walked in, and he hadn't eaten since she had started watching him. Not eating was a sure sign of depression in her book. She was now hooked. But what was the boy's name? She sighed; it would come to her eventually.

The boy soon left, and Raiko watched as two thug looking boys followed him. The deserts popped up and she put a few pumpkin pasties and treacle tarts on her plate, plus two eclairs for if she was really hungry- or he was, she thought. She went through the door and followed the slowly disappearing boy (and goons).

Raiko followed them into the dungeons and around a few corners when she found herself pinned to the wall by the aforementioned henchmen/thugs/goons. She noticed that one was square and one was round, but otherwise she could not tell the difference.

"Yummy," said the square one. "You give us."

"N-no I'm sorry. This is for-" she started

"Us." This was the circular/oblong/oval/uncornered one. "For us. Now you give."

"I can't. Now if you let me by-"

The square one spoke again. "You give us food." These idiots were really bad at the finish each others sentence games. They always turned it into what they wanted. The boys started grabbing the food off her plate.

"No please I-"

"What are you idiots up to now."

Everyone turned to see the boy Raiko had been following. He continued, "One minute you're behind me and the next- gone. And since I can't expect you to find your way back to the house I had to come find you." Raiko tried to suppress a giggle, but she was noticed. "Who is that behind you?" When Crabbe and Goyle didn't say the boy said. "Well then, _move_." The enormous masses of fat shuffled away from her and she was left for Draco to examine her. First thing he noticed was the plate. "What do you have a plate for, and a dirty one at that?"

"Well it was for you, you see. But these things…" she glared at the boys. "…Jumped me."

Draco looked at the boys and understood why they were so dirty all of a sudden. "Very well." He was surprised at the answer, though. He had never heard that one before. Now he really wanted to know who this girl was, but he certainly wouldn't tell her that. "Follow me," he addressed the boys. And without a backward glance he turned and continued down the hall again. Three, two, one…

"Wait!" Draco turned towards the girl with a playful smirk tugging at his lips. "What's your name?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," was his reply before he walked towards Slytherin for the third time today. This girl was now wrapped around his finger. As soon as he got to the common room he would tell Crabbe and Goyle to lay off her. This was one hunt he would do for himself. He got a thrill just thinking about it.

He could worry about Voldemort next year.


	4. Many THoughts

Draco walked into Snape's office as he went down- well, up- to breakfast. He sat down in one of the high-backed black Victorian armchairs and watched his house professor read a passage from a thick tome.

"Yes, Mr. Malfoy," drawled Snape, though his eyes never left the manuscript.

"I was wondering if you could help me find a student. I don't know her name and I don't want to try and find her without it. She is a Ravenclaw student, I don't know what year she is, but she is distinctly Asian. For a Ravenclaw, she seems quite air-headed, so I'm sure you could tell me who she is."

Draco had asked for what he had wanted and gone into the details before Snape had a chance to say yes or no. Even if Snape did say no, the professor would indubitably keep the girl after class and talk to her, which would be the perfect way to find her name and when she had Potions. After that he could ask around Slytherin to see what year she was and whom she hung out with. Soon this girl would be wrapped around his finger tight enough to cut off circulation. This might actually be fun, especially if she avoided his clutches. The longer it took to get the prize, the more valuable it became. And Draco Malfoy was all about value.

"Not Cho Chang, I presume?" asked Snape, still reading.

"No, another girl."

Snape got up and looked in a thick leather bound book. He turned to the back of the book and started flipping page by page towards the front. Several pages in, he started running his finger up and down the page, following a column that was invisible to Draco. Snape came back to his desk and sat down. "The girl you are looking for is one Miss Raiko Hattori. She is now entering her fifth year here. I discourage any thoughts you may have to torment the girl, for were it not for Miss Granger, she would be the top witch." With that, Snape returned to his book and further ignored Draco.

"Thank you, professor. You have been a great help," Draco said with a smirk on his lips. He got up from his chair and was about to exit when he heard Snape say something.

"Should I find that she _is_ being tormented, I must warn you that I will not turn a blind eye to this discussion. And take care that you go to the Great Hall and eat. Classes start today and you will need your strength. I will join you there shortly."

Draco nodded and met Snape's eyes to show understanding. Then he quietly exited and headed towards the Great Hall. This proved to be very entertaining. Snape, known to favor only Slytherin students and ignore the rest, was protecting a fifth-year Ravenclaw. A _female_ no less. Not that Snape was sexist; it just seemed like he would not take a fancy towards a fifteen-year-old girl that was not a part of Slytherin, even if she was the second brightest witch at Hogwarts. He certainly didn't care for Granger.

This left Draco a lot to think about, and with class schedules being delivered this morning, he wondered what he should do first. Well, first was easy- eating breakfast. Once he got his classes and asked an impressionable fifth year Slytherin girl for her class schedule, he could see if he could coordinate his pathways with- what was her name again? - Hattori. His stomach growled to share its opinion and got a glare from Draco. He had not been able to eat dinner last night, and Crabbe and Goyle had eaten the food Hattori had brought. He sighed- life was so hard.

-

Raiko met Ginny and Luna (who was reading a Quibbler from last October) behind the hourglasses that stood in front of the Great Hall. Today she had pulled her hair back into a high ponytail and her glasses hung from a silver chain around her neck. "I saw him," Raiko told the girls. "He's the seeker for Slytherin."

"You mean Draco Malfoy? How can that be?" asked Ginny. Then she started whispering angrily. "If you are certain that it's him then I say abort the mission. Draco is the meanest git I've ever met, and Harry and the rest of the school, besides Slytherin of course, will tell you the same. If you play with that green fire you are going to get a very nasty burn."

Luna, always one to put at least her penny's worth into a conversation, said, "And male seekers that wear green are known to be illegal breeders who synthesize animal body parts to themselves. My father wrote it, so you _know_ it's true."

Raiko and Ginny gave each other a 'Yeah, well, she's great at a lot of other things, so we'll just ignore it,' look.

"I still think I need to help him. You know what they say, 'Be kind to unkind people, they probably need it the most.' At least, Ashleigh Brilliant said that."

"Who?" asked Ginny.

"Never mind. Point is, I am going to help him."

Ginny threw her hands up in the air and went out from behind the hourglasses. She walked towards the Great Hall, but then spun around quickly. Raiko barely stopped with enough time to catch her balance and not fall on Ginny, who was waving an index finger under Raiko's nose. "Fine, Raiko. You do this your way, but let me tell you. If Draco Malfoy or either of his cronies, Crabbe and Goyle, or any Slytherin student hurt you in any way, form, or fashion, I swear by Merlin that they will be sent to the Hospital wing faster than they can say Excalibur."

Raiko gave a sad little smile at her friend before she threw her arms around Ginny and Luna (who had followed Raiko after she left) and told them, "Our classes together may be few and far between, so I want one last hug until we get to do so again." They stayed in each other's warm embrace until they heard someone cough loudly behind them. The girls looked up to see air, and then look down to see a short first year glaring at them. The boy was obviously of African descent, and had the Hufflepuff crest on his robe.

"Could you move so that _some_ of us can get breakfast?"

Luna said, "First you must give us the password!"

Ginny bent down and whispered, "Just say your name."

The boy looked at all three girls and then mumbled, "Alan Danes."

The three girls bowed to the boy and then went into the Great Hall. As Raiko heard the boy walk to his chair, she couldn't help but feel that he would be a perfect example of Hufflepuff traits. If another triwizard tournament were held, he would be a sure choice for a Hogwarts representative.

As Raiko sat down at the Ravenclaw table, she looked towards the Slytherin table. She quickly found Draco facing towards her but talking to Blaise Zabini. She stared at him for a while wondering how he could have escaped her grasp. She was sure that she had seen him many times, and that she had overheard many of his conversations, but still she could not remember anything about him other than his being a Slytherin. The kame were really not helping her with this one. Before she had always known what to do when it came to fixing other people's lives, sometimes it seemed like she overheard all the right conversations, the ones that would be most helpful to getting a person back on their feet. Draco didn't even seem like he needed any help, and the way he had brushed her off like that last night made her hair bristle. It did not seem like Ginny's words had a lack of truth- he definitely seemed like snot nosed little punk. Maybe that was how she was supposed to help him, maybe she was just supposed to soften his edges a little and help him to become a better person. It looked like she had her work cut out for her.

-

Draco tried to converse with Blaise Zabini while still keeping an eye on Hattori. This was harder than he would have thought. Blaise talked about the new Quidditch season that would be starting, and since Draco knew he would be seeker again, and since it would not start for quite a few weeks, six or seven, he could care less. Quidditch was something you worried about right before-hand to create a strategy or while you were actually playing. Stressing out or celebrating its coming was pointless. The only thing Draco looked forward to was creaming Potter and celebrating his defeat afterwards.

And Raiko was a lot more interesting to watch. He watched as she stared at him (he had no doubt that it was him she stared at) and seemed oblivious to the world. The head boy, Robert Thayer, also from Ravenclaw, handed Raiko her class schedule. At first, she didn't take it, so absorbed in Draco as she was, but when Robert put a hand on her shoulder she jumped a little bit, smiled at him, and took the paper he was handing her. Draco smiled. She was more blonde than he was (a/n: ahhh don't hit me- I'm blonde too, I just love blonde jokes).

Draco felt someone shake his shoulder and looked at Blaise who was grinning at him. "You ogling some poor girl, Draco? Or are you just hard of hearing?"

"I'm not hard of hearing, I'm just ignoring you," Draco taunted.

Blaise's face darkened and a scowl formed. He stood up, "What did you say?"

Draco smiled; Zabini was just too easy. "Are you hard of hearing now, too?"

"Remember, Malfoy, I know where you sleep," Blaise threatened.

"As do I, but I really don't want to meet you there." The Slytherin's laughed and Blaise's eyes gained a dangerous glint.

"Now, you don't mean that, Malfoy. Why, this summer you invited me to your mansion, didn't you? What other reason would you have to invite me than to show me your other bed," sneered Blaise.

Now _that_ ticked Malfoy off, but he didn't show that to Zabini. He remembered a few things his father told him about getting your way:

Don't ever get mad.

Make your opponent mad.

Indifference works as well as a retort if the situation gets heated.

If someone annoys you, you can either a) kill them- if they are not Death Eaters, or

b) hurt them badly- if they are Death Eaters.

Draco did not really use the fourth rule as a way of life at Hogwarts, for that would mean he would be expelled, his wand would be broken, and his father would kill him. However, the first three rules worked well, and had resulted in quite a few winning scuffles with fellow students. Those students were now his followers for everything because like his father had taught him:

Although you don't need to be feared to be respected, if you are feared, people will go to more drastic measures for you.

And Draco planned on using the fifth rule in his hunt for Raiko. It paid sometimes to have a Death Eater father…

And other times, it didn't

At other times, it was

horrible,

abhorrent,

appalling,

horrendous,

terrifying,

loathsome

reprehensible,

terrible,

daunting,

intimidating

petrifying,

unnerving.

At other times, he wanted to give up the entire Malfoy fortune and renounce Lucius Malfoy as his father.

In the dark of night, Malfoy used an old and forgotten invisibility cloak (he had found it in one of the unused rooms in the Malfoy mansion) to sneak up to the higher levels to a window. On the fifth floor there was a window that looked out towards the lake. The wall there was so thick, that a window seat had been made. It was the perfect place to look out at the world and sigh at a beauty that could be destroyed should Voldemort win.

Potter was too weak to beat Voldemort on his own.

Potter's friends would not beat Voldemort.

Dumbledore would not beat Voldemort.

Voldemort would win. His Death eaters would terrorize the surviving wizards and muggles. The human race would be left to a party of males who agreed to join Voldemort. The only way to continue life would be the whores and raped who were unlucky enough to carry a Death Eater's seed.

But he was digressing. He needed to pay attention to the present. Which happened to be the, well, he wasn't sure if it was good or bad that it happened, thing to do.

Zabini was snickering and saying to the other students, "See? He can't even look at me without slipping off to dream world."

Draco looked _at_ Zabini rather than past him and told the idiot, "You know, it is really quite impossible for me to be gay. For, you see, I'm a lesbian through and through." This remark was met with many stares and open mouths. He grabbed Pansy, who he had felt take a step back from him when she heard the word lesbian (he wasn't quite sure when she or the others around them appeared), by her waist, took her face in his other arm, and kissed her fiercely on the lips. She went slack for a moment and then put a battering ram of passion into it. When they finally broke, both were flushed and panting. "I really… do love… women."

Blaise sat down and started buttering a piece of toast. "I guess that makes two of us, Malfoy."

Pansy stole another kiss before sauntering off to her seat with as much sway in her hips as she could muster. Draco unsealed his class schedule and looked it over. "Oi, is there a fifth-year's schedule I could look at?" Those of both genders shoved a dozen schedules in his face. He finally chose one from a brunette, who he gave a wink to. The girl didn't blush, so he knew she was not shy around males. That was all the better if Malfoy was any judge. He opened the schedule and compared the two class schedules for the month of September.

Today, there was no way he could schedule an accidental meeting, unless he saw her at the library. The same rang true for the rest of the month- her schedule, or at least what he could tell from the Slytherin girl's, ran no where near his. The only way he would find her is if he ventured into the library. That wasn't where he wanted to meet. He couldn't plan it at all. There was no way he could decide the place she would sit, and as the library took space in five stories, third through eighth, it could be impossible to find her. The only one who knew their way around the library was the librarian, Filch, and Mrs. Norris. Even if he was on the right floor, there was no telling if he could find the table she was at.

Ah well. It seemed as if he would have to enlist some help after all…

Or maybe… The girl had come to him last night. Maybe if he waited she would come to him again. He would make sure to look for her first, but there was a definite possibility that she would find him. And then he could get the information he needed to make her life miserable; so miserable would Hogwarts be for her, and so horrendous her scares, she would never dare to tell anyone. Also, as long as her physical bruises were where her robe covered, there would never be any evidence. Girls who were air headed had plenty of excuses for getting hurt, anyway.

Well, his first class was Defense Against the Dark Arts. If he was going to get there on time with his stuff, he had better eat quickly. Draco rushed through the rest of the day; it seemed to go much more quickly than he could keep up with. After DADA was lunch, then Potions, then Ancient Runes, and after that he was free for dinner and study time. He had review papers in all of his classes and an extra lecture essay on monkshood for Potions all of it was due Thursday (today was Monday). Since the next two years were NEWT prepatorial classes, Snape had decided to crack down on all classes. Funnily enough, he was worst on Slytherin; he pushed them to put in the most effort and to be the best. He had not even been given enough time to scare Professor Apperson.

The week flew by even more quickly than the first day, and as Draco's head hit the pillow each night, he fell into an exhausted sleep. It did not seem like he would be able to find Hattori for a while.

-

Harry's week flew by in much the same state as Draco's. The only difference being that Harry had found time during the lunch break on Wednesday to say hello to Hagrid and have tea with him (the golden trio ate lunch beforehand to avoid having to eating Hagrid's infamous rock candy). Ron and Harry also got a much larger percent of their homework done because of pressure from Hermione and had the time to play a relaxing, and very brutal, game of Wizard's chess. Pretty soon Harry would be a better strategist than Ron. Most of his sulking summer was spent reading chess strategy books once his summer homework had been finished. Hermione was Hermione and she always had her papers done by the day after they were given.

Ginny and Luna, only having to deal with OWL's (although their lessons were about as tiring as the preNEWT classes) fell asleep with a little more vigor and less stress about unwritten papers.

Raiko was like Hermione during her OWL days. Her papers were done quickly and with at least five centimeters of extra parchment than was required. She was never stressed about her work and relatively happy. Once her work was done, she wandered the halls of Hogwarts until nine watching random people and then went to the northern wing of the fifth floor. There she would go to the portrait of a kappa and a nymph under water some where. The nymph looked at her always to ask for the password, and the kappa hid behind a rock a distance away. Then Raiko would give the password to the nymph and step inside the door to the Ravenclaw common room. The common room had its own library, but no matter how many people were there, including Luna, it always felt empty. Even the cacophonous din after Quidditch matches and large exams, (it had not started this year, but it would soon enough) did not seem to fill the silence.

The one thing Raiko looked forward to now was seeing Draco Malfoy and studying him. At her old school her friends would have called him preppy (but that definition has many ways to describe a person, and it varies from school to school a little, to fit the people the title is given to) and they would have shunned him. He was popular with the ladies, the Slytherin girls who were not fit to be called ladies, and handsome and debonair. She wondered what could be wrong with him. It seemed like being preppy was not something that was in dire need of a fix, and the boy in her dream needed help soon. Could it be that Draco was not the boy she was looking for? Was there a double of him in this school or in the muggle world? It did not seem like the kame to give her a mission that was futile or a person who was not around, but this case was different. This was the first time she had ever not known the person who she was supposed to help.

The third week of school started tomorrow. It was Sunday night. Raiko headed towards the library and went directly to the sixth floor. There was a table she had found in her third year that had a great view of the lake, yet it was in such a spot that no one else ever used it, or at least she had never seen any one else at her table. Her homework was finished for tomorrow morning and Tuesday classes, but she wanted to go over them one last time. She turned the corner around a bookshelf that would lead her to her table and almost- it was very close but she managed to suppress it- screamed. Sitting in her chair, running his hands through his blonde hair and mumbling incoherently, was Malfoy. She looked up at the ceiling and glared at whatever kame were watching. At least she knew Draco was the one.

She looked at her table wistfully. Half of her mind told her to sit with him and talk to him. The other half told her to leave and come back later. She stamped her foot; this was not fair play. This boy was really important to the world. Raiko did not believe in fate. She knew it was just an excuse for whenever people did not feel like doing something or failed at the one thing they wanted to do. 'It was fate' or 'This is how it's supposed to be' was what they said. Well she was not going to let it intimidate her. She steeled herself for something, what she did not know, and walked towards the table. She asked Malfoy, "Is this seat taken?"

He grunted. She sat down.

Raiko started to set up her workspace. It was hard making enough room for Malfoy when she was not used to having him there. She always had a certain way to organize her space, and now she had to change it. For a while it was quiet except for the clock tower chiming every fifteen minutes. After several chimes- she had definitely missed a few- Draco spoke.

"Do you know what happens when you add an infusion of wolfsbane with a veritas serum?"

Raiko was stunned for a moment that he had spoken, but then her mind started shuffling through the cabinets of her mind. Wolfsbane. Wolfsbane. Wolfsbane… There was nothing she could think of, except that it was relatively poisonous.

"Er… can I see your book?" she asked.

Malfoy turned his book, _NEWT Level Potion Making and Beyond: a Guide to all your Potion Needs and Questions, _so she could see it. "Sure, but I don't think you'll find anything useful."

Raiko first looked up 'Wolfsbane, infusion of' (page 884) and then did a cross-reference with 'serum, veritas' (pages 90,122, 744, 916). Although the index said they did not cross, she still went to every page and scanned it. Nothing. She sighed and picked her backpack off the floor. She looked around for any sign of Mrs. Norris, Filch, or any other teacher and then put her bag on her lap. She opened it up and took out a rectangular box. It's length and width were the same as a standard piece of printing paper and it was around four centimeters tall. She opened it up and took out a shape recognizable to all teenagers in first world countries (and maybe a few second world, too), a laptop computer. She flipped up the screen and pressed the on button at the top of the keyboard. A screen popped up with a space to put a log-on name and a password. She typed in her sign-on name, Hattori's Dream, and then her password (a/n: sorry, even I don't know that).

A new screen came up that said:

Welcome, Hattori's Dream 

What would you like us to help you with today?

(please put your question in the space provided)

Raiko typed the question while Draco looked at what she was doing in wonder and awe. His father being a muggle hater, Draco had never seen their technology. He had no doubt that, while a muggle had made this, it knew a lot about magic. This would be great black mail in the future, his brain noted. A few seconds later, Raiko growled at the rectangle thingy.

"Blasted piece of metal." Practically every book in the Wizard kingdom was contained in this laptop, yet it still could not find the answer to a single question. She did something that was a last resort option- she sent an e-mail to the one wizard she knew could help- SandWitch.

A few minutes later a copy of meticulous Potions notes flew onto the screen.

Wolfsbane, when combined with the Veritas serum can do quite a few things.

If the infusion is made on a normal day (not important to the lunar calendar) then the resulting potion is an anti-veritas serum, which makes the speaker only speak lies.

If the infusion is made by wolfsbane collected on the full moon, then the resulting potion is a veritas serum that will leave the wolfsbane in the body until the victim dies. If a normal antidote is given, the wolfsbane will not leave the body and will immediately kill the victim. The victim can either ingest the antidote to die or speak in complete truths the entire rest of his life.

The notes went on for quite a long time. Needless to say (a/n: but I'll say it anyway), Draco finished his essay and got the second best score in the class (next to Hermione). When Draco was finished writing down what he needed, the bell chimed a quarter till nine. Raiko got up and started putting her things into her bag. Last to go in was her laptop. Draco got up and crammed his papers into a portfolio and his quills in a cylindrical container. He started towards the door and counted three, two, one…

"Wait a sec, Draco-kun," called Raiko. She caught up to him and looked into his eyes. A flash of recognition and confusion swept through them before going back to the normal dullness they seemed to have. (This caused Draco wonder what she had seen and why he seemed to know her normal tendencies.)

"Who told you that you could call me by my first name? And what does 'kun' mean, Hattori?"

She flashed a coy smile at him and told him, "Funny how we know each other's names without ever introducing ourselves. Do you have a problem with me calling you by your first name, Draco-kun?"

"You are only allowed to use my first name if I can call you Raiko." He smirked at her.

"You could have done that from the start, but you are too polite, right?"

This was one strange girl. She started walking again and then looked back at him still standing there, watching her. She shook her head like he was being immature and then started through the maze of bookcases. As she left he distinctly heard, "And I don't want to find you in my chair again."

Draco stood there for a while just thinking and calculating. Point one- she is smart. Point two- she doesn't beg him to talk to her. Point three- she is pretty without being stuck up about it. Point four- she did not immediately throw up defenses around herself. He started walking towards Slytherin. Most girls, when they met him, either flirted by using their 'goodies' or started insulting Crabbe, Goyle, and he. Gryffindors especially gave him a cold shoulder. Maybe this girl would be a- dare he say it, it could become jinxed- "Friend," he whispered.

It seemed that Draco had something to look forward to after class now after all. As he slipped into his bed and stared at the ceiling he couldn't help feeling… happy. If Raiko was serious about that little table being hers, he was certain to find her there.

This year was about to get a whole lot better.

Author's note: Woohoo! Chapter four is finally done. It took a lot of work because I wanted to make it longer than the others. I don't think I am going to keep my goal for length (I was aiming for 50,000 by the end of year six), but that doesn't seem possible right now. I would have to be at around 20,000 if I was going to keep pace. Please tell me if I am using a word wrong- sometimes I think it fits when it is absolutely left field. If you know any good Quidditch chapter writers I would love to know. The season will be staring soon, Chapter 6 approximately, and I have no idea how to write it. I also would like some help with a battle scene I have at the end of the year. Read and Review and e-mail me if you want me to read your stuff. You can see the address at my profile.

Ja ne.


	5. Longest Day Before 2

Hey everybody. Let's get this show on the road!

Shall we take a look?

For the next few weeks, Draco and Raiko met at their table in the Library after dinner every night. When they were not in the library, Draco ignored her and Raiko watched him. On Saturdays they met in a different space entirely. Those nights they met before dinner. Raiko had learnt of Hermione and the Golden Boy's excursions to the kitchens. One night she had followed them there and saw how to open the tapestry. Now she used it to have dinner with Draco on the roof of one of Hogwart's wings. They switched which rooftops they were using so they could see a different part of the grounds every week.

Draco was doing better in school than he had for the last two years, though he would never admit it to anyone. He was also a lot happier. The Golden Trio and friends noticed Draco's odd behavior. He did not start fights as often, but when he did, his words held much more power in them. The Slytherin gang noticed that he was eating a little more healthily, rather than skipping his meals. He also looked out windows more often and spent much less time in the dungeons.

Unfortunately for Draco, Pansy Parkinson _really _noticed. She had not forgotten the first breakfast when he had kissed her. She would never forget, and she wanted it again. Pansy would not stop until she had it again. Unfortunately for her, Draco had impeccable hearing and he always watched for stalkers. Draco knew more ways to escape from a potential corner than Houdini could ever hope to imagine. That was one of the reasons she loved him so much.

Draco spent almost no time talking to Raiko while he was with her. The only thing that broke the silence was the clock tower chiming, the scratch of quills on parchment, and the occasional shuffling of papers or flipping of pages. Life was more peaceful in those three weeks than any other in Draco's life even with the thought of NEWTS slowly coming into view.

Not everyone thought Draco's odd behavior was bad. Blaise Zabini thought it was great. Draco actually listened to him when he talked about classes or Quidditch or the upcoming Hogsmeade visit-

"What?" asked Draco incredulously.

"I said that the next Hogsmeade visit is next Wednesday and I was thinking of going. Don't tell me you missed all the fliers." Zabini looked at him like Draco had just told him he was joining the Gryffindor Quidditch team

"No, of course not." Draco smirked, "I just did not connect what you said to what my brain knew. Rook to E4." _What are you talking about? I haven't noticed and damn fliers. _

Blaise looked down at the chessboard and squinted, not sure what trick Draco was pulling. He could easily take the rook with his queen, so was that what Draco wanted? Blaise looked at the board and tried to find any possible way for Draco to take his queen in the next three turns. It seemed highly unlikely. Blaise looked at Draco before saying "Queen to E4."

Draco looked down at the board as his rook flew to pieces from the queen's sword. "Damn." Draco rested his head in his hands before running them through his hair. "Okay Blaise, you win. I'm not thinking straight anymore." Draco got up from his chair and started towards the boy's dormitory.

"Sure, Draco. As long as you don't ask me to come up with you," replied Blaise.

Draco groaned. "Not that shit again, Blaise."

"Dreamless sleep, Draco," Blaise chortled.

Draco's eyes narrowed. "What?"

"Sometimes it's better when you don't dream at all, don't you think?" Blaise got up from the table they had been sitting at and gave Draco's arm a light punch. He stretched and started down the stairs.

Draco gazed at the dying embers and whispered, "Yeah."

Most of the Slytherin kids had problems. Waking up in a cold sweat was nothing that had not been experienced by any of the House. Waking up with someone thrashing in bed was nothing new. Neither was hearing a scream in the middle of the night. Midnight wake ups were experienced by everyone was subjected to them.

"More than we know."

With that, Draco went to his bed, exhausted, yet something kept him up the entire night. Something considered weak by all Death Eaters.

_Fear._

_-_

Raiko woke up the next morning, Friday, to see Luna peering down at her and sunlight streaming down on her face.

"You missed breakfast. It is already 8:45."

Raiko jumped out of bed and narrowly missed hitting Luna's head. She rummaged through the chest at the bottom of her bed and took out a clean robe. She shook it out, threw it on the bed and then started looking for her brush. When she could not find it, she looked up at Luna who was handing it to her. She grabbed it and quickly brushed her hair. Then she put her hair back into a ponytail and threw her pillow off her bed. She slipped into the clothes that were under it and then put on her robe. She grabbed her shoes from under her bed and did not bother to lace them. Then she grabbed her bag that was ready to go and flew down the dormitory stairs.

She bumped into Robert Thayer and fell to the floor. Robert gave her a hand and helped her up. She brushed off her robe free of nonexistent dust and then heard Robert chuckling.

"What?" she asked.

"Your haha robe is heeheeha backwards," he managed to choke out before succumbing to a fit of laughter. This boy seriously needed to get out more if he thought it was _that_ funny.

Raiko looked down at her self and slipped her arms inside her robe. Then she pulled her head through and turned it around. She pulled her head through once more and looked down at herself. Much better. Luna came down the stairs with something in her hands.

"You forgot your glasses."

Raiko grinned sheepishly. "Thanks guys. I'd loose my head if it weren't attached and my sanity if you guys didn't keep me together." She but her hand behind her head, a nervous habit she had always had.

Luna grabbed her hand and pulled her to the door. "C'mon. I don't want to be late to double potions with the Gryffindor's today."

"Oh yeah. That would be just asking for trouble."

The girls went to a tapestry of the African savanna and lifted it up. A spiral staircase going all the way to the first floor lay behind it. Raiko climbed onto the banister and started sliding down. She heard Luna above her. When they got to the bottom, the girls stood for a moment to catch their breaths. Reina whispered "Alohomora." Into a keyhole and then opened the door slightly. The coast was clear. The girls left and went down the stairs to the dungeons, not bothering to lock the self-locking door before they went to class.

When they went into class, Luna and Raiko took a seat by Ginny and Colin Creevey. Raiko put her cauldron that she shared with Luna on the table and then started setting up.

At nine-fifteen, Snape walked into the classroom. "Please turn to page 493 in your book. Today you will be making an engorging potion. You have until a half-hour before the end of class. Begin."

Raiko and Ginny went to the student cupboard to gather ingredients while Colin and Luna looked at the directions. For the rest of the class period, the only sounds made were the quiet murmuring of students and the chopping of ingredients for the potion. The engorging potion normally took 70 minutes to make. In a double period, however, rather than the normal 80 minute period, it was a three hour period. Raiko wondered what the extra 80 minutes were for.

When Luna and Raiko's potion had gotten a turquoise color at seventy-two minutes, Raiko scooped up some of the liquid into a small vial with her and Luna's name on it. She put a cork on it and brought it to Snape's desk. The vial and cork would have been super sized, but Snape had been smart and spelled everything. Snape uncorked the vial, stuck an eyedropper, also magicked, into the mouth and took some of the potion. He dropped some of the liquid onto an orange and watched as it inflated to the size of a beach ball.

"Very good, Miss Hattori, Miss Lovegood. I would say that this is E level work. Your potion seems to be extremely potent." He started pulling the peel off of the orange, but, as it was now three centimeters thick, he had to use a small dagger to start the peel. Raiko wondered what he had a dagger for, and from.

Raiko looked at the orange meat hungrily. _So hungry. Need food. _Snape looked at her through some of his greasy black bangs that had fallen over his face when he bent over to peel the orange. "Should I offer you a piece of your work, Miss Hattori?"

"Yes, sir. I'd like that very much."

Snape peeled back the peel so that half of the orange was showing. He pulled apart the two halves and then unstuck (you know what it's like to peel an orange) one of the sections. "_Acio Napkin," _said Snape as he made a flick with his wand. He then handed the piece of orange to Raiko in the napkin.

"Thank you, Professor," said Raiko with much more gratitude than she had meant to put in.

Snape looked at her for a moment with a piercing look/glare and drawled, "From you, I prefer sensei."

Raiko smiled. Like Draco, Snape was just misunderstood, even though she hardly knew either of them. Raiko made a slight bow (just a nod of her head) and repeated, "Thank you, sensei."

Snape's lips were tugged up in the Slytherin smirk that all of the house could perform. "You and Miss Lovegood have free time for the next seventy-eight minutes. I advise you to study chapters three and four in your book. And you don't have to worry about engorging yourself the-"

"Orange has stopped growing, and therefore the potion has used itself up," she interrupted him.

"Yes. You may return to your seat now."

"Very good, Snape-sensei." With that, Raiko turned to go down the aisle of seats and went to her seat. When she sat, she told Luna what they were supposed to do and then handed her part of the orange. They finished the orange quickly and used a small cleaning spell before they started studying. Luna and Raiko, though not the most popular (or understood) students in the school, their year, or even with their peers, were very talented, and they took school seriously. That is why, though Luna had the current edition of the Quibbler in her bag and Raiko had a new book from her parents, they focused on Potions. OWL year was certainly no time for frivolous use of free class time.

Raiko, immersed as she was in Potions, vaguely heard Ginny get up to give her potion to Snape. She watched as the apple, in this case, expanded to almost the same size as her orange, and heard Ginny receive an Acceptable grade for her and Colin. It seemed that any class was better than Gryffindor, but no class was better than Slytherin when it came to Snape. Raiko thought about the short conversation that she had with Snape earlier and wondered whether or not he was just biased or also bipolar. As Ginny came back to her seat fuming and with red ears, Raiko mouthed, "I'm sorry."

Ginny shrugged her shoulders and started studying. Seventy minutes into the period. Ginny could try for a better grade. As Raiko looked back at her book she knew that Snape would never give a Gryffindor a better grade than Acceptable unless he had to, like with Hermione. The teachers would be enraged to see Snape be _that_ biased. It hurt to think that, had she been in Gryffindor, home of Harry & Co., Snape would never have given her an E grade. As Raiko walked to the Great Hall with Ginny and Luna, her stomach felt worse than before she had eaten the orange.

Not all of it was hunger.

Draco sat down to lunch the day after he had been told about Hogsmeade. He was not happy that something had crept up on him like that, especially something so important. In fact, he was really angry right now, but it wasn't because Blaise had told him about Hogsmeade rather than knowing about it beforehand. It was something he couldn't put his finger on.

Not knowing what had pissed him off annoyed him even more than just being annoyed. What was he mad about?

It was not Crabbe and Goyle. They had given him some space to the point of not knowing where he was anymore.

Pansy Parkinson continued to follow him, but he was confident he could always lose her. She was not a problem, she was just an annoyance.

Potter and the Golden sidekicks were as annoying as normal. No mysterious plots had been discovered as yet, so they had not started to creep around the school. It was not them either.

Draco ran a list of names through his head from Slytherin and Gryffindor. The other houses never did anything for or against him; it would not be from them. He ran through the list again and came up short of answers.

He slammed his fist on the hardwood table and startled the occupants of nearby chairs. They quickly looked away. 'Yeah, that's right. Don't be caught looking at the son of Lucius Malfoy in an unpleasant manner. Daddy might come and get you in the night.'

Draco looked back to his plate and picked up a sandwich. Maybe he could talk to Raiko about it. His eyes flew to where Raiko- Hattori- was sitting next to the Quibbler girl. What was she doing with trash like that? That pureblooded witch was worse than the Weasleys. Then again, she hung out with Weaselette, so maybe they were just as bad. That made it a sure fact that he could not talk to her. Everything he told her would go straight to the Golden trio. They probably knew about every single time that he had asked a question from her in their study sessions. It was probably constantly laughed about in their common room.

Draco took a large bite from his sandwich and washed it down with a swig of pumpkin juice. He took another large bite from his sandwich and looked back at Hattori. This time her gaze was not towards him, but to the teacher's table. He followed her gaze and saw Snape. He looked back at Hattori and saw her frowning. This made him frown as well. Whenever Raiko- Damn it, he should not be so casual with her name; Hattori- had looked at Draco, or off into space, she had no expression on her face. It was absolutely neutral. He wondered what Snape had done. 'Probably just gave her a bad grade in class,' he thought. Hah! Served her right.

Draco finished his food and took a last swish of his pumpkin juice. "… so I think that the day after Halloween we should start training for-"

Draco gave Blaise a withering glare that said, 'Say another word and I'll _Avada Kedavra _you before you finish it.' Blaise took the hint and closed his mouth.

"I'm going on a walk and no, Parkinson, I do not need an escort."

Pansy closed her mouth in much the same manner as Blaise had done only a second before. The only difference was that, where Blaise had looked down at his plate and continued to eat, Pansy decided to pout.

Draco made sure to slam the door as hard as he could when he went out. It did not help to blow off any of his steam.

-

Raiko heard the door shut and was startled out of her reverie. For some reason her face really seemed to hurt. She looked at Luna and growled. Luna looked up, smiled, frowned and told her, "Is something wrong? You are scowling."

Raiko squeaked. "Hurry tell me a joke!"

"A joke? I don't-"

"Just do it!" Raiko exclaimed. Her face was stuck! Gah! If she did not laugh soon, she might…

"Okay, okay. Er… Draco, Ron and Harry were trying to see who was the strongest by swimming across the entire lake. Ron swam a quarter of the way there, gave up, and swam back. Harry swam a third of the way there, gave up, and swam back. Draco swam half of the way there, gave up and swam back. They made a truce and decided that all three boys were weak."

Raiko tried to stop her laughter at first, but she could not stop it. Finally it burst out in a wave and she could not stop. Some of the nearby Ravenclaw students chuckled on the account of poor Draco. (By the way, this is just a variation on a blonde joke. I thought it went well since all three had different hair colors.) Raiko wiped tears out of her eyes and then remembered Draco leaving, and her laughing at the joke. She didn't feel like laughing anymore.

"Listen, Luna. I'm gonna go to the house before I go to my next class. I need to pick up some supplies."

Luna nodded and watched as her friend left. What supplies did you need for Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid?

Raiko left the hall and looked around for Draco. She went to the Quidditch pitch and found her locker. Even though she did not play on a team, she requested that she keep her broom in the lockers. She put her bag inside her locker and pulled out her broom. She had made it herself, with a little bit of help from her parents. She had modeled the handle on the Nimbus 2000. It was made of a ten-foot long piece of oak, which she had painted with dark lacquer to keep it shining and weatherproof. The hardest part had been the actual broom, but eventually she had gathered enough twigs for the bottom part. It was almost as fast as a Firebolt, but with the cushion she had put on it- it was an old double cushion for a bike- it was much more comfortable. She walked onto the field, sung her leg over her broom, and took off.

Once she was a good height in the air, Raiko swung her left leg back over the broomstick and sat sidesaddle. As long as she did not let her broom tip, she could sit like this for hours. She looked at her watch- it was quite beautiful with its parchment colored face and finely crafted hands- and checked the time. She had almost an hour before class started.

It was time to have some fun.

She sat on her broom in the gentlemanly way and pointed her broom up towards the sky. Higher and higher she rose making her ears pop time and again. Finally, the lake was the size of her hand, and Hogwarts the size of her fingers. She dismounted her broom while still holding onto it like a gymnast about to swing around the bar.

And then she dropped it.

As she fell, she spread her arms and legs to go more slowly. Air rushed past her face as she fell towards the earth. Finally, she pulled her wand from her pocket. She was about to say "_Acio broom,_"when she felt something catch her. They plummeted forward for ten more meters when they stopped and flew straight and up a little. She opened her eyes- she had not remembered closing them on impact- and looked to see that they- who or what ever had caught her- were still in the air on a broom, a very nice broom. A couple hundred meters from the ground, she thought, if she was any judge. The broom rider- flew them to a roof and set down.

Even before they dismounted, Raiko called out, "_Acio broom._" She said it just in time, for her broom had been about to crash to the ground. She sighed in relief as her broom came towards her when she heard a familiar voice, in an unfamiliar tone.

"What the bloody Hell were you doing?" Her saver turned her around with wind tossed hair and fire in his green eyes.

"I-I," she stuttered.

Draco shook her by her shoulders and screamed in her face. "Are you insane? Do you hate me being at your table so much, you are committing suicide?"

Raiko tried to talk but nothing would come out of her mouth. All she could do was stand there and gape.

"Answer me!" he cried.

Raiko turned around and started walking towards the other side of the roof. She needed to collect her thoughts because, right now, she could not see straight.

"Oh no you don't!" Draco exclaimed as he grabbed her arm. She was taking another step and the tug caused her to fall and drop her broom onto the roof. She slid to the edge and over, one hand held Draco's as he tried to pull her back up and the other held the rain gutter's edge.

"Draco, listen to me. Hand me my broom." Raiko spoke softly and slowly trying not to aggravate Draco any further.

"No way," he told her.

"Draco, gosh darn it, give me my broom now!"

Draco put her hand down on the gutter and scurried to his broom. He mounted and kicked off from the roof. Then he went down and up under Raiko to go back onto the roof. When Raiko sung her leg over this time, she crawled on all fours a little ways away from Draco and towards her broom. Then she put her head in between her knees and her hands over her mouth and nose. Her body started shuddering with the deep breaths she was taking. Draco ran towards her and put his arms around her shoulders.

"Raiko? Raiko, you okay? Hey, are you okay?" He saw her nod and poke her head up to look at him. He sighed in relief. He ran the words she had said before through his mind. "Hey Raiko. You didn't call me Draco-kun. What's up?"

Raiko blushed and squeaked. She waved a hand nervously. "No, no, no. You must be mistaken. I always call you Draco-kun, Draco-kun."

"What does kun mean, anyway?"

She put a finger up to her still blushing face. Her face rivaled a Weasley, the reddest blushers he had ever seen. "It's a secret," she whispered.

"Damn it all, Raiko." Draco threw his arms in the air and left a startled Raiko behind him.

Raiko looked at Draco sadly before grabbing her broom and jumping off the edge of the building without looking back. She then flew around towards the Ravenclaw lockers to get her bag. Then she would head to Hagrid's for Care of Magical creatures.

-

Draco flew out towards Hagrid's cabin and the Forbidden forest. He flew high enough so he could see the entire grounds. He was especially interested in the carriage path to Hogsmeade. Draco watched it for a while before scowling and looking at the lake.

He flew above the deepest part of the lake and dove, making himself as small as possible to go faster and faster. Right before he hit the water, he pulled out of the dive and flew across the unbroken surface. Below him he could see the giant squid following him. A tentacle streamed up towards him and he shot forward and then went up.

This was life at its greatest. Flight in open air. No strings to hold you down. Forgetting all responsibilities and grief and people. Just being yourself within the air.

Draco looked up as he flew higher and higher. The sun went behind him, and suddenly he saw a figure falling towards the ground. Their broom blew around in the wind since it was so light. It looked to be a lot bigger than most brooms too. Draco flew a little bit closer to see the figure better and laugh. When the figure became close enough to depict their features, Draco's heart stopped. He saw drops of water fly up and her hair streaming around as time stood still.

Then he started breathing again and watched as Raiko came closer. He pointed his broom up towards her, closer, closer. Suddenly she was on his broom. He was unused to the extra weight and could not help falling several meters in the air before he gained control of his broom and flew to a roof.

Many things came to his mind like angry bees in a hive vying for his attention. He said some things. He didn't mean to scream, he just needed to discharge his emotions. It was too much. And when she almost fell of the roof…

After that he had a mental breakdown. He actually _hugged _her. Never thought that would happen. But then he swore at her when, after saving her twice, she refused to tell him what 'kun' meant. Didn't he deserve to know what she called him.

She blushed when he told her she hadn't used a suffix. What did _that_ mean?

A disheartened Draco smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand after she left and flew to go to his next class. Guess she wouldn't be meeting him tonight.

Hey. Glad that is over. I can't wait till the next chapter is finished. Please tell me if something is not accurate according to the books. I really don't want to have the story wrong. I am especially confused about Blaise. I cannot remember what year he is in. This is the 6th Harry potter year, so I don't know if he should be here. Maybe some things will come to me when I read HP6 tomorrow. My dad is buying it from Ralieghs tomorrow morning. The next chapter probably won't be up for a while- I'm going to Bass lake (near Yosemite)- so I won't be able to post the next chapter for at least the next two weeks.

See you later, and sorry for the inconvenience.

-In the good Old-days…


	6. Stormy Days

Disclaimer: I don't do disclaimers. I don't live in England. I don't have a kid(s). My husband did not leave me. I never met anyone named Potter.

The closest I've come to owning Harry Potter is the manipulation of a genius's (J.K. Rowling) characters and the creation of my own as seen in this story.

By the way, does anybody even read the disclaimers anymore? I certainly don't.

Raiko rushed up to the Owlery and stood against the wall with her head in her hands. She put her hands over her mouth and nose and tried to breathe deeply, a counter against hyperventilating. When she finally got her breathing in check, she went over to the window and sat down on the ledge. "Hei?" she called. A giant midnight colored horned owl flew down and perched on a nearby ledge. Hei nibbled her ear in a loving and slightly reprimanding fashion that caused Raiko to giggle. Then the owl moved to her shoulder, tugging at her cloak.

"Okay, okay. You are so greedy!" Raiko pulled out a bag of owl treats from her pocket and fed some to Hei, who ate them up ravenously. He nipped her fingers several times. "You know, patience is a virtue."

Hei fluffed himself up indignantly and flew back to the ledge he had been sitting at previously. If he were human, Hei would have certainly given a proud "Harrumph!" at the impertinence of the girl, Raiko.

Raiko sighed and pulled a piece of parchment from her bag. Then she tore off a few inches of parchment for a note to Draco. She uncorked a bottle of ink, dipped a quill into it, and started writing. She did not know, with her unseemly performance earlier today, whether or not Draco would be coming to the library tonight. She certainly hoped he would. She took out a piece of sealing wax and her wand and said "_Lumos_." Before long, the wax started to melt onto the scrolled parchment. She then pressed her thumb to the still hot wax, put her burnt thumb into her mouth- she had not expected the wax to be so hot still- and called Hei once again. When Hei flew down, she tied the note to his foot and sent him off.

Once he was out the window, Raiko checked her watch and squeaked. She had to go to the third floor for Arithmancy in less than ten minutes. She dashed out the door to her next class using all the convenient secret passageways she could. She had barely sat down when the class bell rang at one forty-five. Three more classes until dinner and after that she would see if Draco would meet her in the library. The hope that he would come buoyed her all the way until dinner when the fear that he might not show up kicked in. She steeled herself for disappointment as she walked towards their usual meeting spot. If he did not come, she might have to start all over again.

-

Draco flew to the lockers and deposited his broom inside. He took out his school bag and then started towards the dungeons and the Slytherin dormitories. He had a free period right now, and even with Raiko's help, he was still a little behind in his studies. When he got into the entrance hall, Draco debated on whether to go to his dorm and study in the common room or to study in the library.

Draco headed towards the window that marked a secret passage to the dungeons and was startled by a sharp rap on the window. He opened it and was surprised to see an unfamiliar owl. The owl was of the horned species and the color of new school robes. A note was attached to the owl's leg, which he quickly untied. A familiar print greeted him, which caused Draco to smile and then immediately frown. What did _she_ want?

**Dear Draco-kun, **

**I think we need to talk about earlier events. Please come to the library as normal. I really don't want this to ruin, what I've decided to call anyway, our friendship. I really hope that you will come to the library this evening after dinner.**

**Constantly hoping,**

**Hattori Raiko**

Draco reread the note a few times and then reached into his bag. He was going to write a note to Raiko when a thought stopped him. _Let her worry. Make her sweat. Make her feel like you did as you watched her fall from the sky._ Draco fed the owl a treat and then sent it off. His next class was on the fourth floor in an hour, he might as well wait in the library.

Draco and Raiko's classes flew by that day, and soon dinner was here. Raiko was shaking in her seat oblivious to Luna telling her about the latest edition of the Quibbler. Though Raiko had never been one to worry about problems when it came to the people she was supposed to help, Draco was different. He had always been different than the other missions she had had to do. In fact, it was hard to call Draco Malfoy a mission. She had started calling him a friend. Harry had been Ginny's crush, Dean had been a Gryffindor, Neville had been an acquaintance of Luna's (although she knew that he would come back for more help; she couldn't fix everything in one go), and Robert Thayer had been a family friend. All were missions where she had somehow had a connection to the person, but Draco she had forgotten about, and had no way to get information besides following him and actually having contact with him. The others she had been immediately able to see their problem, but Draco, Draco had still not shown any sign of a problem except having a Death Eater father in jail.

Draco, on the other side of the Great Hall, was as cool as a cucumber in an icebox. He watched as Raiko could hardly eat her food. Loony Lovegood talked on about some nonsensical issue that was probably talked about in that pathetic excuse for a magazine, the Quibbler. He vaguely wondered what her father, the editor, was like.

Finally, Raiko seemed to not be able to take the pressure of eating in the Great Hall anymore. She said goodbye to Luna and then headed towards the door. Draco took that as his cue to keep sitting and make her nerves shake a little longer. He was still a little hungry, he told himself.

As Raiko left the Great Hall, her stomach protested. She had not been able to hold anything down as her mind played 'What if' scenarios of Draco coming and not coming that proclaimed her worse fears. She decided to go to the kitchen and ask for a roll. Maybe she would be able to eat something when she could not feel Draco's eyes boring a hole in the back of her head.

Raiko headed down to the dungeons and then to the tapestry of a still life bowl of fruit. She tickled the pear and stepped into the kitchen. A house elf came up to her and asked her if she needed anything. She told him she would like to see Dobby and that a glass of pumpkin juice and a roll was all she needed for the moment. A new house elf appeared with a tea cozy on his head and the oddest arrangement of clothes she had ever seen. He handed her a glass of pumpkin juice and then led her to a stool that she could sit on. She sat and said, "Hello Dobby. I came down here to still my nerves and ask you about Draco Malfoy."

Dobby said in a squeaky voice, "I do not like to talk of my old masters. Dobby likes it here very much." His ears waved up and down showing he was agitated about why she had come down but happy that she had.

"I know. It's just that Draco is the next person I am supposed to help, and I really don't know anything about him," Raiko pleaded to Dobby, hoping that he would help. A new house elf came and handed her a roll filled with meat and cheese. She accepted it gratefully and started munching on it as Dobby spoke again.

"Dobby would appreciate if you did not ask him of this." He twiddled his thumbs and looked up at Raiko with saucer eyes.

Raiko sighed and stood up finishing her pumpkin juice with the last of her sandwich bun. "Yeah sure, Dobby." She picked up her bag and started to head out the door, waving. "Thanks for the food," she called as she left the kitchen though the tapestry.

Raiko started towards the library and her normal table. She went to the first floor and to a statue of Helga Hufflepuff. There, she turned the bust (the statue was cut in half) and let a stone door slide open. Then she turned back the bust and rushed through the door as it closed. Inside, she climbed two flights of stairs to the third floor. She exited through a tapestry of King Arthur going back to the Lady of the Lake and went to another tapestry of Saint George defending a- bored and not in the least distressed- damsel from a dragon. It was lucky for Saint George that the Iron Belly in question was only a child. She poked the dragon's tail in Morse code for SOS (poke-poke-poke-hold-hold-hold-poke-poke-poke) and then went through the door that was newly arrived. She climbed three more flights, entered the library on the sixth floor and took the spiral stairs down to the fifth floor. Next she went through the maze of bookcases to her table with the large window seat. She sat down on the window seat and proceeded to wait for Draco.

"Kame, please let him come."

Twenty minutes after Raiko had left, the Great Hall was almost halfway empty. Most of the older students were gone to the library or their house common rooms to finish what homework they had left to do. Draco, who was currently being ogled by the younger Slytherin girls (who were oblivious to the fact that, yes, he _did_ know they were watching), decided it was time to meet Raiko in the library. He would head to Slytherin to pick up his stuff, and then he would be off. He did just that and was in the library before he knew it.

Unfortunately, he had not counted on feeling anxious at the sight of the door. The mere thought of Raiko's face as she watched the bookcase where he would appear from made his stomach clench. It had sounded like a good idea to play with her before, but now…now it seemed like he was the biggest ass in the world (excluding Misters Potty and Weasel, of course). Draco knew he had to go in, or else he would be forced to beat Parkinson and the other girls off with a stick alone. At least with the thought of Raiko, he had never felt it was selfish to tell them he had places to go. Not that he had ever thought about being selfish. The only one who was selfish was Potter.

Draco steeled himself as he opened the door and wound his way through the maze of bookshelves. When he got to where he knew Raiko would be sitting, he stuck his head through the small space in between the shelves to peek at Raiko. What he saw made him furious. Raiko was sitting at the window seat looking out at the dark lake. She looked for all the world that she could not care less about whether or not he showed. But her reflection did not reveal her bit lip and the sensible part of his brain registered neither her uncommon stillness nor the fact that she was not working.

Draco was torn between two options. He could either go in, sit down, and give Raiko the silent treatment for the rest of the night, _or_ he could walk away and forget about her for the rest of his days.

He decided to sit down. There was no other way that he could finish his homework in sixth- he probably wouldn't be here for seventh- year. He went to his seat sat down loudly and started setting up his work area boisterously. He made sure that he would keep up his signature angst ridden teen scowl no matter what she said and started to work.

In front of him, Raiko turned to face him and let out a breath she had taken who knows when. She gave a small smile, and as Draco looked up at her, it grew into a Cheshire grin. It quickly fell into nothingness as he glowered at her. It was funny that a word so similar to glow could mean something so different. She groaned into the window and sat back down on the window seat with her head against the window, not noticing Draco stand up and sit behind her.

Draco heard Raiko let out an expectant breath that had greatly confused him. She had been waiting for him? He mentally kicked himself. Of course she was; working was what she did when she was at ease about everything. Looking out the window was something he had never seen her do except when she had finished her work and was polite enough to wait until he had finished his. He got up and sat down behind her.

"Raiko? Hey you okay?" The only other time Draco had used this voice was when he had been trying to get a bird to eat seed out of his hands. Right before the bird would have jumped in, his father killed it in a poof of tan and yellow feathers. This happened to be the number one reason he had never used this tone since; the second being the fact that people just came to him because of his amazing bank account, smarts, looks, flying skills, and dashing personality.

Raiko turned around to face him she looked at him and then talked rapidly in a hushed frantic, "I'm sorry Draco. I didn't mean for you to catch me. Truth be told I've done that so many times the adrenaline rush is almost gone. I know exactly how high to go up and how far I can go before I fall. I didn't mean to worry you and I don't want to lose your friendship over this. And then when you didn't answer my letter…" She looked sad for a moment but then gave him a million watt smile that made Draco's throat catch. "I'm just so glad you came. It really makes the time go so much faster when we study together."

Draco smiled- there was no smirk in it. Just as Raiko's smile had caused him to lose his breath, so now did his smile for her. It was like, under the angst ridden teenager mask, there was a boy who was totally innocent of his father's evil and his friend's influence. Raiko was sure that, had he been wearing that smile on his first day at Hogwarts, he would have been in Gryffindor for sure.

"Yeah," he said. Then he stood up and walked over to the seat that was not directly facing the window but still had a view of the school grounds. Raiko sat in the chair that was opposite him.

Raiko smiled at him one more time before starting on her homework, and Draco took his cue from her.

When they were both done for the day Draco got up and started putting his stuff away. Raiko had finished more than half an hour before, so her stuff was already packed and she was sitting on the window seat.

"You know, I really like it when you don't add a suffix to my name," said Draco as he corked his inkbottle.

Raiko looked at him and smiled. "Yeah, me too, Drake." She laughed.

Draco met her eyes for a second before shoving the rest of his school supplies into his bag. "Don't call me Drake. It's Draco or Malfoy. That's it." He saluted her and left. Raiko then picked up her bag and walked towards the one exit through the bookshelves when she bumped into a hard chest. She looked up to see Draco, who smiled wolfishly and bent down closer to her face.

"I forgot to say something to you," he muttered as an excuse in a silky voice. "You wanna walk with me to Hogsmeade next Wednesday?"

Raiko jumped backwards and looked at him nervously. "Halfway through October already?"

Draco nodded, still smiling. It was good to know he was not the only one who had missed all the Hogsmeade fliers.

"Well then, yeah! I'd love to," she exclaimed. She stepped closer to him and tilted her head to the side and whispered, "I'll show you my secret spot."

Draco's smile grew even bigger- this girl may be more than she looked at first glance. If that was the case he said 'Bring it on' by all means. If she proved herself he might decide not to start on phase two for a while. At least for as long as she proved entertaining.

_But you've already decided not to torment her. She has already proved herself more than anyone, s_creamed the little voice- his conscience, so it was _very _little- in the back of his mind. He moved to the side so Raiko could pass and watched the way her hips swayed through her robe. Four more days and he would be able to hang out with her for the entire afternoon without thinking about anyone else.

Life was good.

-

Raiko stared out at the cloudy sky on Tuesday morning from the History of Magic window. The clouds were heavy with unshed rain, which they would drop tonight. Most could not sense it, but the clouds were teeming with energy. This energy was enough to destroy most buildings. Hogwarts, magically protected as it was, would be fine, but she was worried about Hogsmeade. Protection from dark wizards was one thing, but lightning was another.

She would have her work cut out for her tonight.

And tomorrow was Hogsmeade! She would be dead tired tomorrow morning. At least she knew where to liven herself up.

She was going to Hogsmeade with Draco Malfoy. She had a serene smile on her face as she turned back to the lesson taught by the most boring teacher in Hogwarts, Professor Binns. Although he was dead, he had never thought to retire and save his students from his awful lectures.

The day flew by for both Draco and Raiko. Both from sheer anticipation, with one also dreading the performance of a sacred duty.

At the end of the day, Raiko skipped dinner and went to the library. She wound her way to the normal spot. Once there, Raiko took a piece of parchment and wrote a note to Draco. Then she went to the Ravenclaw dormitories and changed for tonight's event. Dressing took a long time, especially alone, and when she was finally finished, dinner was almost over.

Right before the clouds were about to drop their load and the students were about to exit the Great Hall, Raiko went outside to the grass near the lake. She brought her left leg under her so she was only standing on one foot and raised her hands to the sky.

And then she started to dance.

Tonight, Raiko was wearing the uniform of the thunder kame as she danced. She wore a white- funnily enough- Chinese dress. Yellow streamers entwined with her hair, which flew about in the static of the storm. Lightning struck all around her, never hitting its target. She twirled about in the thunder and rain, never stopping or hesitating for that would mean death. On the lake was a mirror image of Raiko- the kame of the storm. It came closer to her until they were dancing alongside each other. At times their hands met or their faces touched, but never did they stop dancing to the rhythm of the rain.

-

Draco was puzzled. He only saw Raiko in the Great Hall for a minute before she left. When he was finished eating, he headed towards the library. At the normal spot, Draco found a note on the table, excusing Raiko's absence tonight. He sat on the window ledge and looked out into the rainy grounds. A flash of lightning lit up the grounds and Draco could have sworn he saw a body outside. Another flash, and then another revealed that there was definitely someone out there. He went down to Slytherin to look for his omnioculars. Who was stupid enough to be out in this weather?

With omnioculars in hand, Draco rushed back up to the fifth storey. He found a window that was facing the same direction as the one in the library and lifted his omnioculars to his face. He scanned the ground and when he finally found what he was looking for, his breath caught.

It was Raiko.

It was Raiko dancing with a glowing person in the middle of the storm.

Draco rushed down to the entrance hall and tried to open the doors. They were locked! Draco wondered about which professor he should plead to. Snape would be angry, thinking he was getting soft and was sure to report what he had said to the people Draco least wanted to find out. McGonagall was the closest, but she would not have any sympathy for him.

Hopefully she would have sympathy for Raiko.

He rushed up to the first floor and went to Professor McGonagall's office. He pounded on the hardwood door and flew in as soon as he heard the Professor's easily recognizable voice say, "Come in." He rushed down the aisle of, what looked like, pews, and then stood panting at her desk.

"Mr. Malfoy," she voiced, the question eminent in her voice. "To what do I owe this surprising encounter?"

"Raiko," he panted. "I saw her outside… in the storm. She was dancing… with some… golden thing. Lightning all around."

McGonagall's thin eyebrows rose visibly. "When did you see this?"

"Just tonight, a minute ago."

The professor seemed to think for a while, and finally, when Draco could not stand it any more he blurted, "Please, she could be dead or seriously injured right now!"

McGonagall gave him a cold stare as if to see whether or not he really meant it. "Very well, Mr. Malfoy. Come with me." She got up from her desk and started walking through her office with long strides. Together they went up to the tenth floor and to two gargoyles. To these, the professor stated, "Shepherds pie."

The gargoyles moved to show stairs moving upwards in a spiral. Professor McGonagall stepped up into them and Draco rushed to do the same. At the top, McGonagall knocked on a door. From behind it, Draco heard Dumbledore say, "Come in, come in."

Once in, Professor McGonagall told Dumbledore, "It seems that Mr. Malfoy has seen Miss Hattori outside, dancing, tonight."

"Thank you, Minerva. I'll take him now."

McGonagall left and Draco was left alone with the Headmaster. Draco once again saw Dumbledore's blackened arm, received from some foolish encounter with the Dark Lord's spells. "Tell me what you saw, Mr. Malfoy."

Draco showed his omnioculars and recounted what he had seen to the Headmaster. At the end of this tale, Dumbledore said, "Very well, Mr. Malfoy. I'll leave the door open for you so you can fetch Miss Hattori out of the storm. It isn't it interesting the way love affects us all."

"Begging your pardon, Headmaster, but I don't love Raiko. She is just a friend." Draco inwardly smiled at that last word.

Dumbledore gave him a knowing smile and then told him to be off. Draco stood up to leave and Dumbledore whispered, "Friendship contains a love that most underestimate, Mr. Malfoy. And if my instincts are correct, she will be the one who teaches you about the different kinds."

As soon as he left the room, Draco flew down the ten flights of stairs and through the front doors of Hogwarts. He saw Raiko in a flash of lightning and rushed towards her. His cloak billowed in the wind and he was soaked to the skin in a matter of seconds.

"Raiko!"

Raiko turned towards his voice and blanched. A lightning bolt struck inches from her foot and she immediately picked up dancing again. From her hair, she pulled out a glass ball the size of a marble attached to one of the streamers. She swung the streamer around in a circle above her head. Slowly but surely, the glass ball grew larger until it was the size of a beach ball. Raiko ran towards Draco and grabbed his hand, pulling him towards Hogwarts castle and keeping the glass ball over their heads. By the time they had reached the portcullis, lightning had struck the glass nine times. Once under the shelter of the overhang, Raiko fell against a pillar and sat down on the stairs. Draco noticed this change in demeanor and sat down beside her.

Before he could say a word, Raiko put a finger over his lips. She stood up awkwardly away from the pillars and Draco held her around the waist to support her. She picked up the glass ball and swung it over their heads in a counter-clockwise motion. The ball started to shrink and was the size of a fist when it finally stopped. Inside was a storm that Draco had no doubt believing held the same amount of force as the storm they had just left.

Raiko tied the ball with its streamer back into her hair and then rested against Draco's chest. Her eyes closed from exhaustion before he heard, "Take me to the infirmary, kay?" Then she fell asleep beside him.

Draco shifted her body so he was carrying her bridal style. "Okay, but I'll take you some place better, first."

Author's note: Yeah! The next chapter is all about the trip to Hogsmeade. **In creepy end-of-the-show/narrator voice. **Will Raiko be able to make it? Will Madame Pomfrey even let her leave if she does? Where is Draco taking her? Until next time for chapter seven of, _Where Lightning and Shadow Collide_: Shady Workings. **End creepy voice over.**

I finished HP 6 on the Sunday after it came out. I thought the book was totally yeah, whatever. Personally, I think JK Rowling is losing her touch. In order of best to worst, I put:

3, 2) 1, 3) 2, 4) 4 & 6, 5) 5

Don't give me grief about it, that is just what I think.

Anyway, I'd like to say thank you to all those who reviewed. And for those readers who haven't- PLEASE START!

For the avid HP readers who have, of course, already finished the book, I would like to say a few things.

My prince is someone totally different than in the book.

Most of the stuff that happens to Harry and the rest of the Golden Trio happens unless I say it doesn't.

There are no Slug clubs (obviously).

The reason Draco does get to go to Hogsmeade is because, with Raiko, he finished all his homework, and I planned it that way.

For those who aren't avid readers and are still trying to finish (whether because you had to wait for others to read the book first, you are just a slow reader, or a combination of both) I trust that this will not spoil your read.

Any questions you have will be answered if you review ('cause otherwise, how will I know what your questions are?).

I hope you enjoy my story.

Has anybody figured out what Raiko means? If you want to find out, go to (If that does not work, try .com). You can find the meanings for the Japanese words I will use.


	7. Shady Workings

Disclaimer: I own the plot, Raiko, and the plot.

Did I mention I own the plot?

Please note: "" means speaking out loud; '' means in their head

And now with out further ado, I am proud to present the seventh chapter of bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla. Thank you.

Raiko snuggled closer to Draco as he carried her up to the best room in the castle. He did not want to take her to Madame Pomfrey, as she would probably keep Raiko in bed during the Hogsmeade trip.

Instead, Draco took Raiko to the Room of Requirement. He walked up and down the stairs thinking, _I need a place that would make a perfect bedroom._

After six tries, a door finally appeared. As Draco entered the room, he could not suppress a smirk. Some how the room knew he needed it for a female. Lace curtains covered the windows. In one corner there was an elegantly crafted screen with pink petals flowing down to the bottom left hand corner. The bed was a four-poster with lace curtains rather than the thick velvet ones that adorned House dormitories. Draco pulled back the curtains and sat on the bed, which, with further testing, turned out to be a high quality feather bed, full size. He pulled back the down comforter to place Raiko in. The sheets were a pastel blue of very high thread count and seemed to be made of silk. Draco was mildly impressed.

Now came the hard part. Getting Raiko out of her clothes. The doing was simple, but the battling his conscience was not. Half of him wanted to do it by hand so he could see what she looked like underneath her robe, but the other knew the spell that would transform her damp clothes into dry pajamas.

This was the girl in a canoe question. 'Stay in and kiss' or 'Get out and swim.'

Study the female anatomy (hands on style), or retain a friend and tutor.

Draco chose the latter decision and used a nonverbal spell to change Raiko's wet dress (which nicely showed off her curves) into a pair of extremely modest cotton pajamas. Then he set her down onto the bed and pulled the covers up over her. He watched as she squirmed deeper under the covers and pulled them up over her mouth. He brushed a stray hair out of her face and was startled when she immediately caught his hand.

"Kame, I wish I knew how to help Draco."

Draco bent his ear closer to hear anything more she might say.

"He has such a great smile. If he smiled like that more often, he'd have to beat the girl's off with a stick."

Draco gave a soft chuckle and pulled the curtains closed before he headed out the door. Right before he was about to leave he heard something that made mixed emotions come together in turmoil, pulling at his heart. "I'd make sure he did, too." As he closed the door, he headed towards another rarely used room, Myrtle's bathroom.

Raiko woke up and blinked. It was much lighter than it normally was in the Ravenclaw girl's dorm. She sat up and looked around.

This was definitely not Ravenclaw.

She got out of bed and looked around the room. Besides the bed, there was also s painted screen (behind which was a boudoir filled with robes and other clothing necessities) and through a side door was a bathroom. The bathroom was as amazing as the prefect's bathroom, which Ginny had told her the password to for one go. The bath was the size of a pond, and shaped like one too. It was an irregular curved shape that started out shallow but was about one hundred and fifty centimeters deep at the center. She took a short bath using the excessive amount of shampoos, conditioners, soaps, oils, and various cleaning tools contained in a cabinet next to the pond. She doused herself with cold water with the shower head so she could better help to wake herself up. Then she wrapped herself in one of the large terry cloth towels, and went behind the screen to get dressed.

When the rest of her daily morning duties were done, Raiko left the wonderful bedroom and rushed to Ravenclaw so she could explain her absence from Ravenclaw last night. She cursed Draco just a little bit for not just taking her to Madame Pomfrey and making the explanation a whole lot easier.

Apparently, Draco had already explained the reason for her not being in Ravenclaw last night, as Flitwick told her in his high wheezy voice. Raiko immediately felt bad for being mad at Draco who had thought ahead. She headed down to breakfast (with her money in her pockets) feeling ashamed of herself. At least she knew how to say an apology without actually saying one, especially at Hogsmeade.

At breakfast, Luna ran through all of the possible scenarios that accounted for Raiko's absence last night. For some reason, none of her scenarios were the actual reason she had been out, though Raiko had explained from their first year and first storm what she did. Was this the first time she had not been able to get home to bed? It had been a very powerful storm…

She looked towards Draco who mouthed, 'Three Broomsticks, eleven-fifteen.' She nodded and mouthed, 'Got it.' She even went so far as to stick her thumb up.

That was when Luna asked, "Are you signaling a garblehark? I don't think they live in England."

Raiko just laughed and continued to eat. But when Luna asked her if she wanted to walk with her to Hogsmeade, she had to think fast. "Uh, I guess I can walk with you, but I have to meet the next person I'm helping at the Three Broomsticks at 11:15."

"Who is it? Can I meet them?"

"Luna-chan, he wants to remain anonymous, and I will continue to keep him so."

Luna smirked, or at least she tried to. It did not work very well. "An anonymous boy at the Three Broomsticks? You sure he isn't asking you on a date?"

Raiko blushed. "Of course not," she stuttered. "This is very serious. I am trying to help him and nothing more."

"Your face says differently. It says you like him a-lot."

Raiko denied it. "No way. Just meet me in the entrance hall at 10:55 okay?"

Luna nodded. "Yeah. Ginny is going with Dean though so she won't be with us."

Raiko looked across to the Gryffindor table. Ginny was sitting next to Dean. "I wish she would find a better way to forget about Potter, or get his attention, whatever she is doing."

"Maybe the green monster Jealousy will go to Harry."

Raiko sighed and murmured, "For Ginny's sanity, I sure hope so."

Luna and Raiko walked the long windy, winding road to Hogsmeade after being checked by Filch to make sure they did not have any Dark materials on them. While Raiko agreed with Ron, she was very glad that it had been he who voiced the opinion that it really didn't matter whether or not students took stuff out, but whether it came back _in _to Hogwarts. Halfway there, Neville joined them and listened to Luna talk animatedly about more Quibbler nonsense about plants. Neville always asked about the herbology section because, he thought, that Luna knew more about what they wrote about in the Quibbler than the authors of the articles. He even debated with her about what she said.

Raiko was able to tune out their conversation, and the fact that they blatantly ignored her, and looked down at her watch. The only reason it ran was because it was not digital; it all had to do with gears and the works inside the clock. The hands pointed to eleven and one, making it 11:05. "Guys?" she said. They looked at her, Neville for the first time. "I'm going to go on ahead. I'm running a little late." They nodded and she started to jog the rest of the way to Hogsmeade.

She burst into the Three Broomsticks slightly dampened by a light rain burst that lasted only a minute. She looked around for Draco and saw him leaning on the door frame.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi. So… Do you want to sit down or…?

He stood up and looked at her. "First I want to see your place."

She smiled. Just looking at him made her feel lest tired, and her secret base was like natural caffeine. "Okay. C'mon then." She pulled him out of the bar/restaurant/hang out by the sleeve of his robe. They walked through the main street of Hogsmeade and then down the little path that merged into the main road after the Hog's Head bar. They walked for about 2 kilometers and then went off the beaten trail. Although there were no landmarks, Raiko was as sure of the path as she was her un-choreographed dance during a storm. The only landmark was the two massive Durmast Oaks that marked the entrance, as Raiko was quick to narrate.

Draco looked through the space between the two trees and saw nothing but dark forest. He looked at Raiko who was holding out her hand. "We need to be in contact as we pass through the barrier. Otherwise I don't know where you will end up."

He took her hand and she stepped through, pulling him with her.

What he saw made him gasp. Giant ancient oaks and yew surrounded a small meadow, through which flowed a small stream (which was barely a trickle). Raiko pulled him to two large rocks sitting near the stream and sat him down on one. While everything else seemed to be overcast, this meadow was filled with sunlight. Above the tree line, Draco could see the clouds fighting to get through into the unbroken peace of Raiko's secret place. As he looked at it now, he felt grateful that she had thought to show him this amazing beauty that was unknown to anyone else. He looked at Raiko to thank her and was surprised to see her looking at him, smiling up at him from her rock.

"You don't need to thank me. Your face is enough."

He shook his head. "This place is amazing. I've never seen anything so beautiful in my life. Everything feels so…" he searched for the right word. "_Alive._"

She looked out at their surroundings. "Yes. I've always felt this natural stimulant when I come here. It's like I'm on cloud nine when I'm here alone-"

Draco's smile fell and he looked up to the sky and lay on the rock.

"- But I never knew it would be so much better with someone else."

Draco looked back at her. His mind immediately said, 'She is so amazing. She always says exactly what I want her to.'

She looked at him and smiled. 'Hey Draco? Just to let you know I think I'm crushing on you and I feel like I'm flying when I'm with you. Last night I even dreamed of kissing you.' "Let's go get some butterbeer, I'm freezing."

"Women, always getting cold." He stood up and offered a gloved hand to get up. "And don't worry, I'll pay."

"But-" she started.

"No buts. I have not been so corrupted by society that I would think of going Dutch. Besides, I'm a Malfoy, and I can buy as much butterbeer as I please."

She growled, and he laughed. She smiled, and he flew. Raiko led him to the exit and held his hand again, pulling him through the trees. They walked the rest of the way to Hogsmeade with bland countenance while their insides were simply glowing. They went into the Three Broomsticks. Raiko was silent as Draco ordered two buterbeers and two sandwiches. Once Madame Rosmerta was gone, he asked, "Where do you live?"

Raiko answered, "Darien, Connecticut."

"You're from America?"

She nodded. "I got a lot of offers for schools there too. I think there are about three or four wizarding schools there. They make a diamond if you look at where they are placed on a map, although it is impossible to pinpoint their exact location and even harder to make a mark where it is. The most prestigious is the Mithrasian Academy, and it takes a lot to get accepted into that school. I wanted to go to Hogwarts though."

He frowned. "Why would you want to go to a foreign school that has prestige only in Europe when you could go to a prestigious school in your home country?"

She gave a short laugh but replied, "Because I felt that things were going to converge here. Most haven't realized that more storms have been brewing around Hogwarts lately. Plus, no matter how little prestige the school has in Europe, almost anything in Europe is give a boost of renown just for being in Europe. While I could have gained much influence in the American Ministry for being in Mithrasian, I need to have influence here more." Draco raised an eyebrow and she explained further. "Whatever happens with Potter and Voldemort, I want to have a part in it. And besides," she leant back in her chair and sipped from her forlorn butterbeer which had arrive a minute ago. She ignored Draco's wince at Voldemort's name. "Since my father is a famous auror, I have enough influence in the Ministry to get by."

Raiko knew it was a gamble, to give Draco this information. Since she was still unsure on where his loyalties lay, she had to tread carefully. This information could easily reach his father whether or not Lucius Malfoy was in Azkaban. Hopefully Draco knew occlumency…

"Really?" Draco sounded genuinely interested, but for Voldemort or conversation, she could not tell. "I've never heard of Hattori."

"Yeah. There was a big episode before Voldemort failed in killing Potter in America. A small terrorist group that probably got ideas from him went around America. My father was one of the aurors who stopped them."

Draco nodded and drowned the rest of his butterbeer. He stared into his empty cup swilling the small amount of foam that was still there. "What are you going to be when you leave Hogwarts?"

Raiko thought for a while. Then she said, "Well, I want to take a muggle job. I think I want to be a psychiatrist, but that means a lot of work for my parents and me. I'll have to forge grades and pass a college entrance exam so I can go to a college and study psychology. That means that I will have to brush up on American Muggle History. Other than that, I want to own a boarding house for wizard kids just leaving Hogwarts. However, this means if I am going to be a psychiatrist, I'll _have_ to marry a wizard." There was silence for a moment. "What about you?"

Draco looked up from his glass and looked up into Raiko's inquiring face. He shrugged. "I don't know. Once You-know-who is gone I'll probably want to travel around the world. I want to be politically active and host lots of parties." He laughed. "Maybe once Scrimgeour's gone I could be Minister."

"That's great!" Draco was startled at Raiko's enthusiasm. "You would be a great Minister. You're one of the top ten students in school, you have the funding to advertise and travel to talk to people, and you always know everything that is going on in the wizarding world. You could make a big difference, seeing as you wouldn't be one of those Ministers who just waits for people to tell him things from behind a desk." She had a bright smile on her face showing Draco how much conviction actually lay behind that statement.

Draco scoffed. "I can't be minister though. For one thing, my father is a death eater, so no one will ever fully trust me. They learned from my dad that while death eaters say they've repented, they are still on the side of evil. Second of all, the people's first choice for minister after You-know-who's fall and Scrimgeour's loss is one of the Golden Trio, most likely Potty- Potter," he corrected himself at Raiko's glare. "Or Weasley. Granger is a woman so she probably won't get the vote."

'Third of all, Voldemort might not be defeated. Fourth reason is, I'm trying to kill Dumbledore.'

"Oh," she said. The conversation fell to the ground. "Well…" Raiko watched as Katie Bell walked out the door with a small package. For some reason, Raiko turned around and watched through the window as the Golden Trio followed shortly behind. 'Guess they're done for the day.' She turned to Draco who was smiling slightly. "Why are you so happy?"

"Want to go to Zonko's?" he asked.

"Sure." She got up and Draco deposited some coins on the table before they went. "So what are you smiling about?"

"I'm thinking of all the things I can do to Crabbe and Goyle depending on what gets into their food."

Raiko chuckled. "As long as you don't use it on me, I'll be fine." They started walking towards Zonko's.

Raiko was happy that Draco had come out of where ever he had gone in the Three Broomsticks. She watched his face as she shivered into her winter cloak. As they walked, someone stuck a foot out, causing Raiko to trip into a large half-frozen puddle. Unfortunately, Draco was to slow to catch her.

"Raiko? Are you okay?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I need to go to the school. I don't want to catch a cold."

Draco shrugged off his coat and put it around Raiko's shoulders. "Don't worry. You'll be fine." He looked to see who had tripped her, but whoever had done it had already disappeared into the crowd. They walked through the slightly busy streets towards Hogwarts.

While they were walking, it started to rain slush. Raiko moved closer to Draco both for warmth and to keep him warm. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and they continued with covered hands out in front of them to see better. In the distance, they saw something float into the air. The thing quickly collapsed on top of a few people. Draco and Raiko continued to walk slowly. When they got to where the thing had collapsed, Raiko gasped.

It was Katie Bell. She was on the cold ground shaking in a wild, psychotic way. Hermione, Ron, and a girl named Leanne Portman were holding down her flailing limbs. In the distance, Raiko saw Harry running towards the castle. She looked up at Draco and her eyes met a stony countenance. "What happened?" he asked.

"Katie and I… she had a package for someone and I told her not to deliver it. I tried to take it from her and… When the paper ripped she floated up into the air. We think she touched the necklace," sobbed Leanne.

Raiko looked at where Leanne pointed and knelt to get a better look. She got out her wand and said, "_Acclaro_." The necklace glowed faintly, but then faded back to its normal green sheen. "_Declaro abstrudo_!" The necklace glowed again and then, above it, a pearly white cloud formed a chimera and a soldier. The soldier engaged in battle with the chimera. The chimera had the first strike, wounding the soldier badly, and then the chimera went in for the kill and succeeded.

Raiko sighed and every one looked at her. By now, a crowd had formed and most had seen what the chimera had done. "As long as she only touched it for a sec, she will probably be okay. Otherwise, she could die."

Hagrid came running up from the castle and scooped Katie up. He started bounding back towards the castle as Harry came back. Raiko merged back into the crowd as Harry walked up to the necklace. She pulled Draco's robe and they started walking towards the castle.

They walked in silence for a while, but when they got to Hogwarts, Raiko spun to face Draco. "I'm scared," she cried. "I don't want to see people die. Who gets a kick out of destroying families by killing their loved ones? Why do people feel the need to use fear to employ respect? Why do we feel the need to kill our brethren?" She felt warm tears streak down her face. "I want to live without fear of suddenly dying. I'm scared."

Draco wrapped his arm around her shoulder and said, "Do that, and Voldemort's power goes away. Live life to the fullest and like you control when everything ends."

Raiko sniffed and started walking into the school. After being searched by Filch, she gave Draco back his jacket. "I'm going up to the Ravenclaw and then to the Hospital wing. I'll meet you in the library after dinner."

He nodded. "But if you feel sick, stay in bed. I don't want your germs."

Raiko laughed lightly. "Will do." She saluted and then ran up the stairs to her House.

She went up the stairs to the first floor and went past McGonagall's office. She heard the Professor saying "…but we cannot point the finger of blame at Mr. Malfoy purely because he visited the shop where this necklace might have been purchased. The same is probably true of hundreds of people-" (page 255)

She heard Ron mutter something and Harry rebuke. She stomped into the room.

"Miss Hattori? If you don't mind I am explaining-" started McGonagall.

Raiko stood behind Potter, Weasley, and Granger's chairs and told them, "Draco did not do it."

"Yes as I was-"

Raiko glared at Harry. I was with Draco all day at Hogsmeade so he could not have done it. I saw Katie leave the Three Broomsticks myself with Draco sitting next to me."

The room was silent. Both Ron and Hermione were looking at their feet and Harry was looking confused angry and annoyed all at the same time. Raiko blurted, "That is all," before she left to change into some warm clothes and get a pepper up potion from Madame Pomfrey.

Draco walked quickly down the stairs to the dungeons. He muttered the new password and watched as the concealed stone door slid open. He entered and continued into the common room as the door swung shut behind him. He looked around for Pansy and was having mixed emotions of his discovery. He came up behind her and whispered in her ear, "Could you rally up all the girls who went to Hogsmeade today and tell them I want to talk to them?"

She nodded quickly and he patted her head. "Good girl."

(Y)

To be continued…

The next chapter in _Where Lightning and Shadow Collide_ is going to be posted by August 15. After that I have no idea when things will be posted because I am starting high school and I will probably have a tonne of homework. I am taking Biology, Advanced Algebra 2, Advanced English, and probably Japanese (I haven't gotten my schedule yet). This means you can expect a new chapter about every month. If you want to help, please send me things you think would be funny in the story. I already have a plan, but if you want to have something included I would love to try and fit it in.

Hello all. This took much longer than I thought it would because I was working on another story. Yall will not be able to read it yet as I plan to have it finished before I actually do anything with it. I also did that with Rainy Day Lovers. There is one part where I quote McGonagall from the book. I have the page there and it is all JK Rowling's work so no suing. Personally I find it hard to believe that people are taking magnifying glasses as they read all of the chapters and trying to find plagiarism but **shrugs** that is just me. (By the way apparently anything I write with two asterisks around it turns bold so that is why shrugs, which is what I am doing not saying, is in bold). Also I tried to put a site in the Author's note in my last chapter but it didn't show. The site was You can use this to look up certain Japanese words I use and also the Latin spells. For those of you who know Latin and groan when you see JK's spells, (I don't know Latin and they make me groan so I can only imagine) I hope you can say, 'hey she used the wrong part of speech for this spell.'

Anyway, I want to know what you think about my scene from Chapter 12: Silver and Opals from Vol. 6 Harry potter and the Half Blood Prince. Also, what do you think about the revealing spell charm?

Thank you for reviewing, o-aki-hoshi and kid from bass lake.

To kid I say: please give me your email address so we can talk.

Chapter eight is coming. What does Draco want to say to all of the girls? Will Raiko catch a cold? What is happening at Hogwarts? How will the relationship between Raiko and Draco grow? The answers to these questions and more will be answered in WlaSC: Costume of the Storm.

As always, review.


	8. Costume of the Storm

Disclaimer: yeah…no…not mine…

Mine: Raiko Hattori, Professor Apperson, Alan Danes, and Robert Thayer. The plot and the overused plot device I plan on using in this chapter are also mine.

_Dance is the hidden language of the soul. –_ Martha Graham

-

Draco stood with his back to the fire as the last of the girls filed into the Slytherin common room. "How many of you went to Hogsmeade today?"

Most of the girls raised their hands, but the seventh years felt the novelty had worn off. "If you haven't heard about Katie Bell, then you won't know that today's trip could possibly be the last of the year. Security has been heightened as of today, even more so than it already was."

The girls tittered in their groups and he waited for them to settle. After a moment he said, "But that is not why I asked you to come. For those of you who did not raise your hand, you may now go up to bed or stay, if you wish." A few of the girls went down to their room and he started again. "Which of you tripped a girl who was standing next to me today?"

No one said anything. "It really doesn't matter, for the message will reach you anyway." He glared at them, making eye contact with each. "Raiko Hattori is under my protection as of now. Anything you do to her will be seen as an insult against me. Should you fail to comply with this request, punishment will be severe. Snape agrees with me." The girls muttered incoherent babble to their neighbors. They looked to him again. "For tonight, that is all I have to say."

A week later, Draco ate his peanut butter and jelly sandwich slowly, deliberately. Raiko had told him about what Potty and the Golden Friends thought about the necklace attack, and Snape was quick to reprimand him further. Sure Potter was right, but that did not mean that he should not put up a distressed front. During his next break, Potter was going down.

Draco slung his bag onto his shoulder and exited the Great Hall. Double Potions with Gryffindor was like a carnival if you had Snape as a teacher. At least, it would be for the Slytherins. It continued to annoy him that Harry had been allowed into Potions. Draco wondered whether Dumbledore had hoisted Harry onto Snape just so he could become an auror.

Whatever, it did not matter. After lunch was when he would make his move.

-

Raiko looked at the flyer that Ginny had handed her.

Halloween Ball October 31, 2005 

There will be no afternoon classes on the day of the dance.

_1st through 4th years: 6:oo p.m.- 8:oo p.m._

_5th through 7th years: 8:oo p.m.- 12:00am_

_Formal dress robes required._

_Masquerade masks required._

_Any infractions of school rules between now and the dance could result in a suspension from the dance._

_See your Head-of-House for a selection of multicolored masks, yours to decorate._

_-_

Raiko looked back at Ginny with a raised eyebrow. "What?" she asked before taking a bite out of an apple.

They were sitting in one of the courtyards off the Great Hall, doing some homework in the afternoon sun. This was a rarity, for the past week had been filled with storms. The benches had amazingly (or perhaps magically) dried in minutes of sunshine. Afternoon classes had already ended at four o'clock, surprisingly, and everyone was taking advantage of the weather.

Raiko waved the flier in front of Ginny's face. "What is this?"

"It's a dance. I think Dumbledore is trying to fit as much fun into our lives as possible before the war. It's supposed to make us forget about Voldemort and the Death Eaters, if only for a few hours." She took another bite of apple and then offered it to Raiko, who waved it away.

"Well then… are you going to go?"

Ginny nodded. "Yeah. Dean's already asked me and I've had to turn down a lot of requests."

Raiko looked at her slyly. She asked coyly, "Any from the Chosen One?"

Ginny blushed and coughed on her apple before swallowing it down. "Excuse me?" she squeaked.

Raiko grinned, "You heard me."

Ginny spluttered before muttering, "No, but I don't expect him to be there either. He'll probably stay in Gryffindor moping about Sirius until Hermione drags him down, in dress robes or not." She gave a sad laugh.

Raiko sighed. "In books, the two people who are meant for each other always secretly love the other but are never brave enough to confess. At the end of the book though, they always do."

"Yeah well. Real lives don't end once the bad guy is gone, and I'm not sure that we can defeat the Villain." Ginny looked at Raiko and smiled. "What about you? Any offers yet?"

Raiko shook her head. "I figure I'll just go alone so that way I can dance with whoever I please."

Ginny laughed. It was good to hear that sound again. "Well, if you do want a date, I'm sure Collin would love to go with you."

"No. I've got someone else in mind, but I don't think he'll ask me." Raiko looked around at the garden they were sitting in and thought about the boy she would like to dance with…

"Oh." Ginny was surprised. Raiko wasn't the type who dreamed of kissing or dancing with boys. "Who, pray tell, is the lucky guy?"

Raiko bent down to whisper and said, "You will never know."

Ginny moaned. "Aw, c'mon, Raiko." She leant back on the bench. "You have enough secrets to keep, why can't you tell me this one?"

Some clouds moved in and blocked the sun and a cold win started to blow. Raiko grabbed her papers and put them into her bag, making sure to put the dance one in her pocket. "We need to go." Ginny had her stuff all packed and Raiko grabbed her hand to pull her inside. Right before they reached the shelter of the castle, a bolt of lightning struck a tree next to them. It burst into flames and fell behind them as they ran through the door. They panted inside the Great Hall.

"What- was- that?" asked Ginny.

Raiko looked out the door they had just come through. Rain was now hurtling down in sheets. "The storms are converging here. They know things will be decided in this place. It's why we have been having so much rain. This is a crossroads into the next era, deciding whether it will be one of horror or peace is up to Harry-kun." A flash of lightning lit up the now dark courtyard and Raiko closed he heavy wooden door, struggling against the powerful rain. Ginny leant against the door to help. Once closed, they bolted it shut and grabbed their things.

Raiko asked Ginny, "Where to now?"

"Library, fourth floor."

Raiko followed Ginny up to the library, both deep in their thoughts.

Ginny's thoughts were on Harry's part in the final war against Voldemort. Raiko said that this was where everything would converge. Did that mean that this would be the site of the final battle? It sickened her to think that this hallowed school would become a place of death and destruction. Now that Voldemort had a physical body, how would Harry hope to defeat him? What other powers did Harry gain from the 'Dark Lord?' Unfortunately, none of the answers to Ginny's questions presented themselves as they walked.

Raiko was thinking of Draco Malfoy. In her dream, Draco was wearing muggle clothing. What did that mean for Draco? Could he be a muggle? Narcissa's bloodline was solid, so his muggle blood could not come from her. That left Lucius. Lucius was a tried and true Malfoy, whose bloodline was also assured. So then where did the muggle clothing come from?

As they rounded the corner to the fourth floor hall, Ginny and Raiko heard muted voices. They looked at one of the doors that were slightly ajar. Ginny pressed the door open further so they could take a peak into the classroom. Ron, Harry, Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing in an abandoned classroom. Stacked desks and chairs were lined up against the wall, covered in dusty cobwebs. Three wands were drawn and pointed at their targets.

"So, Potty. You still spend time with trashy blood traitors like Weasel here?"

Harry laughed. "You still only have one name for me, bastard? I'm afraid little kiddy insults won't faze me."

"What's wrong with being a weasel, Malfoy. If I remember correctly, you like being a ferret. Is that what your animagus is going to be?" Ron taunted wand still at the ready.

Draco sneered. "What about you? Are you going to be a spider or a slug?"

The stand off continued. From their hiding space, Ginny fumed and Raiko blanched.

"I'm surprised you asked to see us today, Draco. I figured you were scared of us now that daddy is behind bars. Do you plan on becoming a shoe-kisser to Voldemort too, or will you be a brown noser?"

Draco growled. "You're pretty brave from behind Dumbledore's robes, but what are you going to do when he isn't around to save you? Face it Potter, you are like poison. All those who get close to you, even you god-daddy the other blood traitor Sirius Black."

"Better a traitor than someone whose bloodlines are so polluted. You'll probably interbreed straight into an asylum. Besides, to you, a traitor is someone who doesn't prostrate themselves to Voldemort," Harry retorted. He smirked as Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle flinched. "Can't even say your master's name. You prats are worse than house elves to his every whim. What'll you do when he's gone and you lot have your asses placed in Azkaban? At least you'll be reunited with dear ole dad."

"At least I have a father to be reunited with. You've lost all of yours."

At this, Raiko burst into the room, revealing Ginny behind her. She clenched and unclenched her hands, wondering what she should say.

Draco used the moment for his own advantage and asked, "I told you to only bring Weasel, Potter. How come the Weaselette is also here? You need two fifth years to come to your assistance? Two fifth year girls no less?" He mentally rammed his head into the wall for allowing the two watchers stay, he had assumed they were Slytherin since they had not joined the fray.

Raiko called, "You have not insulted me yet, Malfoy-san. Have you not been able to give me a pet name like the others? My name is Hattori. Will you now proceed to call me the Mad Hatter?" She looked to Harry and Ron and said, "Malfoy-san is done with you now. You can leave." She took out her wand.

Ron and Harry filed out, but not before Ron showed a rude hand gesture and Harry called, "It's a good thing Raiko stepped in to save you." He put an arm around Ginny and they left. Ginny protested, but at a glance from Raiko, she left, trying not to lean on Harry.

She told Crabbe and Goyle, "Leave or I will curse you to kingdom come." They snickered from behind Draco. "One, two, three."

She moved her hand in a slashing motion and they started to shrink. Two small objects floated in the air for a second, before clacking onto the ground. She walked over to Draco and picked up two buttons: one was moon shaped and made of mother of pearl, the other was cupcake shaped (yellow cake with a purple paper). She put the buttons in her pocket before Draco had time to react. "You'll get your friends with the counter curse when I'm finished."

"You can do non verbal spells _and _human transfiguration?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes, but that is not the point. Why did you call them here Draco?" she yelled.

Draco looked at her as if she told him the sky was orange and purple polka dots. "I was teaching them a lesson. They thought I was behind the necklace incident. I wanted them to keep out of my business."

Her shoulders sagged. "Draco, you idiot," she whined. "You just confirmed his suspicions that you are a Death Eater! He's going to watch you now more than ever." She shook her head. "Why don't you talk to me? You don't have to get into a fight to get rid of excess emotion, that's what I'm here for!"

Draco shot back, "So, what, now you're a shrink? Is that it?"

Raiko glared. "No. I thought I was a friend, but obviously I'm just a wannabe ditz who dreams of nothing more than getting Harry in bed and getting knocked up with his child!" She grabbed the crumpled ball of a flier and put it in his hand. She also put the buttons with it. "The counter curse is '_Recessim genis.' _Stay away from my spot tonight if you don't want to end up like them."

-

Draco watched as she walked away from him. He opened the small ball of paper and slipped the buttons in his pocket. He read what the note said and slumped against the wall. "A dance?" he asked the emptiness.

_A dance._ Was she going to ask him? Well, she certainly wouldn't after this. He put the paper in his pocket for later and his countenance hardened.

He just let a pathetic, fifth year, _Ravenclaw_ girl tell him off. He strode to Slytherin with a stony façade. When he got there he shouted, "Pansy!"

She stood up and went over to him. She led him to he chair and was surprised when he pulled her into his lap and started nuzzling her neck. "Tomorrow's Saturday. Do you want to have a sleep over with me, tonight?"

She pulled away with a pouty face on. "But what about what's-her-name, the girl under your protection? I am not playing second fiddle."

He smirked at her and leant back into the chair. "After tonight, I could care less about her. If you want to do me a favor you could harass the little bitch for me."

"Oh, Draco," she sighed. "I would love to stay with you tonight. We can meet after dinner, right?"

He kissed her neck and nibbled at the tender skin. "Sure."

-

Raiko went to the Room of Requirement and asked for a room where she could be angry. Once the door appeared, she went inside. She grabbed a baseball bat hanging from the wall and swung it. She clapped and heavy metal music blasted from an unknown source. Cylindrical tables of stone stood in rows with fragile jars and vases and statuettes perched precariously on top. She swung the bat again; this time however, she hit a ceramic jar causing it to fly into another table.

She screamed and started the destruction.

-

Ginny watched as Raiko left the room that she had been in with Draco. She sighed in relief. She turned back to Harry, Ron, and Hermione who had met them in the library. "She left and she looks unharmed."

"Yeah, except for the fact that she looks like steam could come out of her ears," grumbled Harry.

Hermione looked worried. "Do you think we should go after her? She could be in trouble after angering Draco."

Ginny shook her head. "No, she is really angry. When she gets in these funks she usually goes into the Room of Requirement and starts breaking pottery and glassware. She'll come out for dinner, probably in the kitchen and then go back up to Ravenclaw and cry."

Ron scoffed. "Malfoy is nothing to cry over."

Again she shook her head. "You don't understand, Ron. When she helps people, she always has a barrier so that people can't get in. Eventually, some people get in and once you are in there, she's as vulnerable as a newborn. Inside those walls, she is a person who hates to hate.

"One time, after Christmas Break, Raiko came back to me and told me she had a fight with her mother. We found an abandoned classroom and she told me about the fight. By the end she was shouting 'I hate her' and crying at the same time.

"Raiko and her mom have never gotten along, but they never fought. This was something big. Even now, she hasn't totally forgiven her mother for what she did, but Raiko doesn't want to tell her dad.

"Raiko has talked to many people with broken families, including you Harry. While she knows that her mother will still be there to talk to her and reconcile, she still doesn't want to deal with that. Her dad is also deeply in love with her mother and she is afraid to destroy her father's picture of her mother."

They were silent for a moment. Then Hermione placed the tentative question, "Destroy? That is a pretty strong word."

Ginny nodded. "There is pretty strong justification."

"So then, what do we do?" whispered Ron, a hand on Hermione's shoulder, which she had yet to throw off.

"All we can do is wait for her."

-

Draco went to sleep on the night before the dance. He had so much homework to do it was awful. As his head hit the pillow, he fell into a distressed sleep.

_Draco was in a large room. He left the room to find a hallway he was very familiar with. It was a dungeon corridor at Hogwarts. He went up the stairs and found the window he had come to many times. It was warm, and a wind was rattling on the pane, so he opened the window. Dark water rushed in through the window, and the sudden force destroyed Hogwarts._

_Draco opened his eyes and found that he could breathe. There was no light anywhere, but he could see himself clearly. He swam upward towards the surface, but it never came. His feet kicked upward on a solid surface, but he was brought back down. Suddenly, the Dark Mark was visible in the distance._

"_Somebody, help me!" He continued to call out into the darkness. He looked down at his hands and found he was holding a golden sphere, from which the light was coming. Tendrils of darkness tried to swallow the ball, but he held on tight. "I don't want to be alone anymore!"_

_In a minute, he felt small hands surround his. "Who are you? How come I can't see you?"_

_The golden globe was struggling against the darkness, but then another golden globe came into view. One of the hands left his and caught the ball floating in the darkness. Suddenly a girl came into view._

"_My name is Raiko Hattori. We've met at school, and you talk to me sometimes. You know me pretty well, so we call each other friends."_

"_Are you going to help me? I don't want to be in the dark," he cried._

_The girl nodded and put her sphere in his. They melded together and became a blinding light that pushed back the darkness. Raiko closed his hands around the ball, which made a twilight version of the darkness and his hands became red with blood veins. She stood on her tiptoes and whispered with her mouth next to his ear, "You'll find me soon, and then we can start to push the darkness away from you."_

The next morning, Draco woke up with two things he rarely had after a night's sleep. He had no recollection of nightmares, calm and a sense of purpose for the day.

-

Raiko walked up the stairs to get out of the dungeons with a meat and cheese filled sandwich roll, an apple, and a small flagon of green tea. The last week had had more than the usual share of people following her where they should not. Thankfully she was a master of escape. It was 6:oo p.m. on Halloween. Raiko headed for Ravenclaw so she could get ready for the dance. She did not want to go, for fear of meeting up with Dr- Malfoy, but Luna was forcing her to go.

On the first floor, she decided to check the House Points. Slytherin was leading Gryffindor by a slim three points. After that, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were tied fifty points behind at 216. Some green stones flew down and some blue stones flew up. She wondered how Slytherin could be losing points when everyone was getting ready for the dance, or already dancing in the case of the younger students.

Raiko sighed and continued on to her house. She met only a few late third years heading to the dance on her way. Once in the safety of her room, she untied a package wrapped in brown traveling paper. She pulled the paper back and gasped. The dress robe (she had known what it would be, she had, after all, sent for it herself) had come out better than she designed it. After the Yule Ball had passed, Raiko had tried designing a Chinese style dress robe. It was navy blue and went all the way down to her ankles. Slits went all the way up to her knees with silver thread embroidering the edge. Silver clouds lined the bottom and top parts of her dress with lines of thunder connecting the two layers. The clasps all had silver tassels of the same thread. The clasps went from the left side of her neck all the way to where the right slit ended at her knee.

She folded it back up and put it in her trunk. Raiko rushed through her shower and dried her hair hastily. She then put on her dress. The sleeves went a little shorter than they should have, as they should have ended right above her elbow, but everything else was perfect. She brushed her hair free of tangles and put in a turtle shell comb for decoration. Next she put on her make up, just some mascara and lipstick.

Lastly, she put on her mask. It was navy blue with black sequins sewed onto the top. Once the black ribbon was tied, she flipped some of her hair over it to hide the ribbon.

Luna came up to find her at 7:45 p.m. and looked beautiful in a pale blue dress robe with a high collar. Her mask was white, but the ribbon was colored to match her hair to hide it easily. She offered the crook of her arm and said in a dignified voice, "Shall we go then."

"Yeah, but let's wait for every one else to leave. Then we can leave without being seen and use all of the secret passages to confuse people."

"Five more minutes?"

Raiko nodded. "That will be good."

When the five minutes were up, they left to find the common room empty. They walked through the unoccupied halls and secret passages until they were at the Great Hall. Raiko opened the door for Luna and bowed her through and then followed close behind.

As Raiko walked into the Great Hall, she thought Hagrid had outdone himself. Only one table remained for food, the rest were somewhere invisible to the naked eye. Opposite the teacher's table was an area of small tables and chairs. The Hall was awash in light from 13 chandeliers and small pieces of mirror hanging from the ceiling. A few pumpkins adorned the dance floor, each the size of a carriage (which caused Raiko to laugh in spite of herself). She saw that there was a new style for dress robes for guys. Now, they were knee length tunics with slits to right below the waist. Underneath were a pair of matching baggy pants that looked very comfortable.

Luna dragged her over to a table that Ginny had saved for them. She was sitting there with, whom Raiko had to assume was, Dean. Luna sat down, but Raiko continued to stand. Most of the students at the moment were standing around eating and talking. Raiko was bored already. The music started up and some feet tapped, but still no one danced.

Raiko walked over to the dance floor and started swaying to the music. This was not like the Yule Ball where the contestants had the first dance. Everyone was invited to the first dance this time. After a minute of dancing alone, someone came behind her. Raiko turned around to see whom her partner was and was surprised to see Harry.

"Hey," he said above the music.

"Harry? Hi!"

He shushed her and continued to dance. "Don't use my name. I don't want anyone to know it's me."

She laughed. "You should have combed your hair better then."

He shrugged. "I can't help it. It just does that. By the way, do I know you?"

By this time, a few more brave dancers had entered the dance floor. "Yes," she answered. "But not enough to recognize me in a crowd."

"The only ones I could recognize in a crowd would be a Weasley 'cause of their hair."

She nodded. "True." She moved to leave but he caught her arm.

"Keep dancing with me."

A slow song started playing and she shook her head. "Maybe later. Find me later."

He looked at her quizzically but nodded. "Fine, but your dress is pretty noticeable. I will find you."

She giggled. "I'll hold you to that." With that, she maneuvered her way between the many dancers. Since it was a slow song, many girls had dragged their partners onto the dance floor. She wound her way all the way to the wall and caught her breath. A boy in a black and white dress robe/tunic came over to her and she blanched.

"Hi! Would you like to dance?" he asked.

"I um…"

He gently grabbed her arm and pulled her onto the dance floor. From then until 9:35 p.m. she danced with what seemed like every guy without a partner in the entire school. Finally, she excused herself and made her way to the food table. Once there, she grabbed a tray of finger sandwiches filled with cream cheese, pesto, and sun-dried tomatoes. She crawled under the table and ate a long awaited meal.

-

Harry danced with the girl in the blue dress until she left, leaving him disheartened. He looked over to where he saw Ginny and his heart leapt into his throat. She was beautiful in a dark green dress, which contrasted starkly with her hair. She was sitting with Dean and Luna. He watched as Neville asked Luna to dance and she accepted. For some reason, he wanted to punch Dean and ask Ginny to dance with him.

From above the younger and shorter students' heads, he watched as Hermione pulled Ron onto the dance floor.

He felt odd dancing slowly alone, so he left the dance floor to be a wall shrub (he is too macho to be a flower). He looked up at the starry ceiling and sighed. He missed Sirius, and he knew he would not see Sirius again until he died. It was too bad Raiko's theory would not come true, but he knew he had to face the facts. He went outside to the courtyard and cried beneath the clear night sky.

-

Ginny watched as a boy left the Great Hall. She noticed that he did not have a partner with him, which was odd. Most students who went to the courtyard during dances had partners on their arms, ready to kiss.

She turned beck to Dean. "Can we dance now?" she pleaded.

Dean glanced at her through his mask. "I don't like to dance, okay?"

Ginny turned away and said, "I'm getting a drink. She moved towards the food table and then went towards the courtyard door, where Raiko and she had been almost hit by lightning a week ago. That was the day that Raiko had told Malfoy off for being a git, a week ago. But Raiko still hadn't come out of her funk.

When she entered the courtyard, she shivered slightly in the cool air. She crossed her arms and looked around for Harry. She wound her way through a small maze of low hedges to the bench where she had sat many times. There was Harry, bawling. Ginny rushed up to him and put her arms around his racking figure. She slid onto the bench slowly and let him cry on her shoulder. "Oh Harry. Is this about Sirius?"

He nodded, but continued to cry. She let him cry like that for a while, playing with his hair. After a while, he muttered, "I'm glad you recognized me."

She gave a small smile and he did too. She stood up, brushed out the wrinkles on her dress robe and offered him a hand. They could still hear the music so she said, "Would you like to, um, dance with me?"

Harry took her hand and turned it in his. He put his other hand on the small of her back. Ginny grinned and placed her other hand on his shoulder. They started swaying to the music in the distance; both were oblivious to all but the one they were connected with.

-

Hermione had been so happy when Ron had asked her to the dance, but now she was not so sure. They were just standing near the food table, not even _sitting._

"Ron, let's go dance."

"No way, 'Mione," he replied.

She growled. "Ron. Dance with me or I'll go find McLaggen and let you stand on your own."

Ron blanched. McLaggen had been bragging about how he was going to be keeper this year. He knew Harry was annoyed by the bragging, but if McLaggen was better than him…And McLaggen was sure to tell him all about how his date would have rather danced with 'a capable keeper' than a pathetic prefect.

"Sure Hermione."

Hermione beamed. She pulled him onto the dance floor. Just then a song finished, but rather than an upbeat song, it was slow. Hermione put her hand on his shoulder and waited for him to slip his hand in the one she held out. He got into position and they started the waltz together. After the Yule Ball, Mrs. Weasley had taught him many dance steps to make sure he would be fit for society, but he still felt his insides turn to the consistency of a roll in water.

"Thank you, Ron," whispered Hermione when the dance was done.

Ron listened to the new song as it started playing. "We can um… still dance if you, y'know, want to…"

Hermione listened to the song too. "Yeah let's stay on."

-

Draco, Pansy, Blaise, Crabbe, and Goyle sat at a table. They had been here for an hour, coming in half an hour late to make a big entrance. Unfortunately, everyone had already started dancing, so no one really noticed.

Draco stood up and grabbed his empty punch cup. "I'm going to get more to drink."

The rest of them nodded, but Pansy said, "Should I come with you?"

Draco glared at her. "I can find it fine by myself." He left the table in a flash of black and green dress robes. He wound his way through dancing couples and finally reached the food table. He looked at the many trays and picked up a pitcher of some kind of a juice and a single person chicken and put them on the floor. He scooted them under the floor length tablecloth and slid under himself.

A girl in blue and silver dress robes stared at him from the twilight of the table. He stared back. He saw a half eaten plate of finger sandwiches and he tried to see whom he was with.

"Hey," he smirked.

"Hi."

Wait a minute. He knew that voice! "Raiko?"

The girl nodded. "Hi Draco."

They sat in silence for a minute before Draco said, "I guess I'll just go-"

"No, don't," said Raiko worriedly as she grabbed his arm. "Stay with me. We need to talk."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "You realize those are the four worst words for a guy to hear, right?"

She gave a nervous laugh. "Okay, you don't have to talk. Just listen.

"I'm really sorry about last week. I got carried away." She looked meaningfully at Draco. "But you were scaring me, Draco. While Harry and Ron aren't my good friends, I feel honored to know them and it angers me when I see people make fun of them.

"But that wasn't the worst part. I wanted to be friends with you because I had a dream about you. I have had dreams of many people, so it's nothing special, but you were different. Draco, you should have seen yourself! You were so scared, I needed to find you quickly, but I didn't know who you were. I've always known whom I'm supposed to help. You were different. The darkness was closer to you than I have ever seen it to anyone else.

"For a long time I did not know how to help you, and I still don't. Still, for the last two months, I thought we were making good headway. I had never seen you hurt anyone, and you acted scared when I almost fell off the roof."

Draco gave a "Humph" to say he was not scared and Raiko continued. "When I saw you in that room, I thought all my work had gone. I was scared for you Draco. I don't want to lose you to the darkness." She started crying. "I won't allow you to lose to the darkness."

There was a long silence as Raiko and Draco had a stare down. Draco broke and said, "Do you want to dance?"

Raiko nodded and said breathlessly, "Yeah. I'd love to."

They crawled out from under the table and walked onto the dance floor, continuing to dance until midnight.

Wow! Now that was a doozy, doncha think? It was a lot longer than my normal length too.

Next Chapter: Part 9, Quidditch and Christmas

Yeah! Every one is happy. What is up with our pairs: Harry/Ginny, Hermione/Ron, Neville/Luna and last but not least, Draco/Raiko? Quidditch season is starting. What does that mean for Gryffindor, Slytherin, and Ravenclaw? What's up with Draco, anyway? Who are his two arm huggers? What does Christmas break mean for our favorite characters?

These questions and more answered in Chapter 9!

**Please Review!**


	9. Holiday Fluff

Raiko grinned. "So keeper?"

Cho nodded. "That is where they thought you would do the most good. We had a lot of people try out for chaser, so we know that we can place you where you were so obviously the best."

Cho looked down, and Raiko knew there were many reasons. She looked around the corridor and asked, "What's up?" Not the most eloquent sentence, but Cho did not want condescension. She also did not want to talk to her blabber mouth friends and writing would not help- there was no one talking back, no one truly listening.

"Cedric's dead, Harry could care less about me, and I just feel like…" Cho looked at Raiko offhandedly, hoping she would have the words. Raiko was surprised that Cho started out so quickly, but to friends of the people she helped, she was a safe. Raiko Hattori was a better vault than one found at Gringotts for information. To Hogwarts students, she probably had more valuables than the Wizarding Bank too. Hogwarts students not including Slytherins, that is.

"Don't worry, it's safe with me."

Cho gave a weak half-strangled laugh. "I know, but that worries me. Sometimes I feel like it would be better if you actually spilled my information. I'd be totally mortified if that really did happen though…" Cho sighed, an action that all Ravenclaws were used to. "I dunno. I'll talk to you later."

Raiko nodded and didn't push it. She watched as Cho walked past her. Raiko stood in the hallway, waiting for Cho to turn back, not wanting to be gone, just in case. She felt Cho's eyes on her once before the other girl turned the corner, and then she was gone.

It was after Raiko turned into another hallway that Cho proceeded to return and sit on the window sill of a window facing towards the sunset. She rested her face on the glass and looked out across the school yard.

Raiko walked out into one of the courtyards that adorned the Hogwarts campus. She looked up at the dying leaves of fall. She sat down at a tree's base, careful not to get her clothes in the mud. She curled her knees to her chest and breathed in slowly.

"I know it is Thanksgiving today, but I don't think I will remember to say thanks at dinner. That is why I am doing this now." She closed her eyes, but she did not feel any student presences nearby. She opened her eyes and looked back at the steely sky. Her legs stretched out and she leant into the tree. "I am thankful for my friends, and my family. I am grateful that I am allowed to go to this school. I am thankful that I am who I am, thanks to the divine powers that be. I love my part in this universe, and I love knowing my part. But… I think…" She paused and listened to the leaves rustling in the wind. "I have fallen into mediocrity, and I refuse to give in to it. Mediocrity spawns from routine, and I… I refuse to be unknown."

She smiled. That was her goal. She would be known to the world. She could care less about money as long as she had fame. Surprising, for a bookworm.

She hefted her bag onto her shoulder and headed inside. There would be another storm on Saturday.

"Hey Raiko."

Raiko continued reading. It was a very good book by Eoin Colfer. It was funny, what he thought of leprechauns and fairies. She liked his rendition of fairies much better than the real thing too. She laughed at something that Foaly said and then glared at a hand that was placed in front of the words. She found herself looking up at Luna.

"Did you hear me?"

"Hear what?" Raiko asked.

Luna shook her head. "If you cannot hear what is going on around you while you read, you may have been invaded by a Penturnula. They will lead you into danger while you read so they can feast on your corpse."

"Is that what you came to talk to me about?"

Luna laughed. "No, no. That was just a warning. I wanted to know what you were doing for Christmas break."

Raiko frowned. She closed her eyes and registered her internal clock. December 7th. She looked back at Luna. "I'm thinking of staying here. I really don't want to go back. There is too much to do here."

Luna nodded.

Raiko looked back at her book and continued reading, waving a hand as Luna reminded her about the Penturnulas. She got comfy in her large love seat, sitting by the fire.

… the clock ticked.

"OH-" Raiko stopped herself from swearing. She quickly ran upstairs to her trunk and grabbed some of her stationary parchment. She grabbed a quill and started writing.

_Dear Mom and Dad,_

_How have you been doing since my last letter? I am fine as always. Life is always interesting at Hogwarts and I am learning many new things_. With the pleasantries done, she could get on to the real part of the letter. Vaguely she wondered how often her letter had varied from the above sentences. She was always careful to make sure that nothing even remotely important crept into her letters. She would tell her dad about the interesting things over the summer, but otherwise, her parents knew nothing.

_As you know, Christmas is coming up, I have decided to stay at Hogwarts. I know this will come as a surprise, but things are_ She paused to think of a good word to put in without scaring her parents. c_onverging. I need to stay here and work things out, especially with my work. _

_This brings me to what you were waiting for. I was wondering if you could send me the following items. This year, the Hogsmeade trips were cancelled indefinitely. I can no longer go Christmas shopping. _

A list of Christmas gifts and the names of their respective receivers followed except for one.

_Also, you know that gift that Grandma Allana gave me? It should be in a small blue box in my 'Gashly Crumb Tinies' tin. Send that to me if you send nothing else. _

_Thank You._

_Missing you both (almost as much as you miss me),_

_Raiko XOXOXO etc._

She sealed the letter and ran up to the owlery. Once there she called Hiei. She borrowed some string from the school stock to tie the letter to Hiei's leg and then sent him off. She looked at her watch. She had had Quidditch practice earlier, so Draco wasn't expecting her. Still…

She was exhausted, her reading time not giving much recuperation. Of course, she had only been reading for ten minutes when Luna interrupted her. She checked her watch. She had time to see him, if only for a moment. She walked to the library quickly, hoping to catch him before he left. She practically ran as she weaved through the bookcases. When she got to the spot, he was not there. She sighed, and was about to turn around when a hand clamped over her mouth. She tried to scream and was turned around. She found herself in between a bookshelf and Malfoy.

The hand was removed from her mouth and he chuckled. He turned around. It was unnecessary for Malfoy to ask Raiko to follow. She would. He knew she would. She knew he knew.

They came to a window that looked out onto a sloped roof and the school grounds. Malfoy opened the window and Raiko slipped outside after him. He sat down and she frowned, rubbing her arms. Even though she had her winter robe, she was still cold. At least in quidditch, there was the energy from flight. It was as tiring as a 400 meter dash at times. She asked, "Isn't it a little cold?"

In the starlight and the torchlight from inside, Raiko saw Draco's eyes flash in amusement, accenting his grin. "Hardly."

Raiko crouched a little behind and to the side of Draco. He turned back to look at her with a raised eyebrow. He scooted back and stretched out, lying down on the roof. She remained sitting, her hands behind her and her legs stretched out in front of her.

How right he was.

"Draco!" A voice sang.

Draco cringed in the hallway and turned towards the voice. When he saw who it was, he knew he should have gone with his first instinct to run. Pansy.

He gave her a smirk and asked, "Yeah?"

Pansy acted shy. Her hands were twiddling behind her back. She rocked on her heels and she looked towards the floor. Somehow it looked much better when Raiko did those things, and she never did them all at once. "I was wondering if you were staying at Hogwarts or if you were going to Malfoy Manor like you usually do."

"Why would this year be any different than the rest?" he drawled.

Pansy stopped rocking and looked at the air above his head. "Well, I guess it wouldn't be." She flashed him a dazzling smile. "I hope we can spend some time on the train, then."

Draco flashed her a fake smile that out shone hers. "Of course," 'we can spend time on the train to Edinburgh. Unfortunately, for you, neither of us will be on it. Guess that stops that plan.'

"_Hey Raiko."_

_Raiko looked up from her schoolwork. She had the seat facing the window today. "Yeah?"_

"_What are you doing for Christmas? Are you going back to America?"_

_Raiko looked at him for a moment, studying him. "I'm staying here. What about you?"_

_Draco remembered grinning. "I just have to inform my mother of my plans."_

_Raiko sighed. "On what, Malfoy?"_

_Draco fake pouted at her before smirking. "You'll see when the train leaves, won't you?"_

Draco rubbed his head where a book that had been resting on the bookshelf above him "mysteriously" fell on top of him. Now all he needed was to tell his mum about his plans.

This year _wasn't_ any different than the others. He still didn't like Pansy.

Raiko woke up on Christmas morning feeling… anxious.

Draco was here, that she knew. She just wasn't sure what that entailed. She got up and pulled out her wand. It was still dark, therefore she was the first person up. She waved her wand, and let the light of the Lumos spell wash over her trunk. She rummaged through it, looking for the present for Draco. When she had it, she looked at her watch. It read 5:45. She groaned softly. No one was in the room. She had it all to herself for the holidays. Had she known this would be the case, she would have stayed at Hogwarts for Christmas the last four years. Now that she was up, she knew she would not be able to get to sleep.

She got dressed, donning a slightly nicer blouse than the one she usually wore. On top of that she had a green vest. She had a darker green skirt, dark socks, pant shoes that she wore on all formal occasions, and she let her hair fall in a long pony tail until she would be ready to put it in a bun. Now that she thought about it, a warm bath would be nice on a day like this. She debated on whether or not she wanted to undress and then dress again and have to deal with the hassle of drying her hair, especially when she had done all she needed last night.

But she had prepared last night when she had been certain that she would wake up late with Luna gone.

6:02.

She looked in her book of passwords to make sure she had the password right before leaving Ravenclaw, Draco's present lying on her bedside table with her brush.

7:45.

She had forgotten that the water would stay relatively hot in a Hogwarts bath. She walked down the stairs to the main hall. From there she crossed outside to the Quidditch pitch. Her breath showed in the air and she regretted not grabbing her gloves. Still, she grabbed her broom from her special locker, now with an American racing broom (Cirrus M) and her old broom, and kicked off from the ground.

She flew around the castle, looking at the windows and seeing what she could. She saw how empty the castle was at eight o'clock in the morning on Christmas. Through one window she glimpsed a blonde someone going down the stairs. She flew to the next window and saw it was Malfoy. She tapped on the glass and he turned, startled. When he saw her he smiled slightly and opened the window. "Morning."

"Morning," he replied.

"Meet me at our usuall spot after breakfast, okay?" She was about to fly away when he grabbed her arm.

"No, wait. I want to bring you somewhere else."

She looked at him confusedly. "Okay…"

HE smiled. "It's not as good as your place, but I think it will be good. For the circumstances."

She smiled too. "See you at breakfast," she called before flying down to the Quidditch locker rooms. She ran to RAvenclaw to get Draco's present before going to breakfast. She also grabbed another box, something she thought was just right for the occasion. She loved her dad. He always thought of stuff that she would enjoy.

After a large breakfast of eggs, sausage, bacon, toast, pancakes, crepes, and basically any other breakfast food, Raiko went to the hour glasses. Hufflepuff was in last, Ravenclaw and Slytherin were tied for second and Gryffindor held the lead.

A hand clamped over her eyes and a voice whispered, "Guess who?"

"Merlin?"

"No."

"A great and powerful wizard?"

"Yes."

"Ahhh…. Draco, I give up."

He removed his hand and grabbed her robe sleeve. "C'mon."

Raiko allowed Draco to pull her up the main stairs towards and unknown destination. As they went, she patted her pocket with the packages in it. She really hoped he liked it.

Raiko grinned as they came to the Room of Requirement. "This better be good, or I am going to be sorely disappointed that we didn't go to a room I haven't seen before."

"Have you seen every room?"

"Almost."

Draco looked back at her. "Well then, at least this way, all of your presents will be transported here, and you can witness the fact that my imagination has no bounds."

She chuckled.

Draco opened the door after the ritual walking past three times. He bowed her through the door and shut it behind her. There was a Christmas tree that lay undecorated except for a few ornaments and a star, presents lying beneath it. A fire roared in its grate and warmed the entire room. There was also a small coffee table and sofa. The best part however, was the floor to ceiling window that took up the entire far wall. It looked out onto the Hogwarts grounds, flakes of snow drifting in a spiraling diagonal.

"It's beautiful." It was plain, yes, but it felt… it felt like home. It was cozy and warm and small and there was cocoa in mugs and all the stuff needed for Christmas.

For the first hour they marveled at the presents others had got them. For Draco, sweets, racing broom gloves, a snitch (Raiko wondered about that one, how much did those things cost and where did you buy one?), a picture with Pansy Parkinson (Draco sneered at it and Raiko laughed nervoulsy, trying not to show her anxiety). There was also a few books on famous wizards- dark and benign, and other school related stuff (all of the highest quality, and still fun to play around with.

Raiko got muggle and wizarding books alike, a few hollow glass balls with holes and strings attached (RAiko explained that they were for catching lightning and any other spell; they could act as grenades- no spell, no thought, the perfect wapon against Legilimency), a set of Abercrombie and Fitch knockoffs from her friends (stating things like 'Just the Fitch' and 'Abercrombie and- Oops!'), and a broom polishing kit.

Once they had finished, they had to give each other the gifts they had gotten for each other. Raiko pulled out the small box that held Draco's present. She then surreptitiously pulled out an izone camera, turned it on (spelled so that it would work on Hogwarts grounds), and reached for her cocoa. While Draco was opening his present, she grabbed her camera with the hand farthest from Draco (her left) and waited. He opened the present slowly, making the tension last longer and knowing it as he did so. HE lifted the cover of the box and saw a silver oval. HE took it out and watched it spin on a long chain.

"I know it is kind of girly, but you don't have to wear it. You can just put pictures in it to remember stuff."

"Like what?" he asked as he opened it and unfolded the multilevel locket.

One hand held the camera and with her other hand she held a sprig of mistletoe above their heads.

"Hey Draco," she whispered, her voice catching. "Look up."

He turned quickly, startled, and when he saw the mistletoe his eyes widened. She took the opportunity to kiss him on the cheek, pressing the button on the izone simultaneously. A developing sticker came out of the picture slot and she smiled.

She waved her wand over the sticker so it cut into an oval shape and pasted it onto one of the slots in the locket. She looked up to see Draco smirking.

"You don't think… you're going to get away with that, do you?" His eyes were fiery, and not just from the flames in the fireplace.

"I don't-" she stuttered before he let his lips brush hers, one hand holding her chin and the other holding the locket.

The feelings she felt then. She was amazed at how wonderful it was. She pulled away. "This is real isn't it? I'm not going to wake up?"

"You dream of kissing me often?"

She looked at her lap, blushing. He laughed loudly. "It's not funny," she said slapping his arm. He laughed some more and she tackled him to the ground. "It's not funny.

She knew Draco was strong. She knew it in the way he held himself and the way he talked, but as he flipped her onto her back so that she was on the bottom and he was on the top, she realized it once more. He blew softly on her neck, making her clutch his shoulder. He bent down and whispered in her ear, "I think it's hilarious."

The way he said it, with such predatory tones, she was excited. This feeling was exhilarating. But somewhere in a corner of her mind there was doubt. Doubt at how fast she could go, how fast he would go. She scooted out from under him and towards the opposite end of the couch (they were still on the floor, but they were very close to it as it was what they had leant on while opening presents). "Too fast. Too fast."

She gave him a look, hoping he would understand. That had been her first kiss. She did not know where to travel or how to do so from this point on. Again they were at a turning point, one that could change the dynamics of their relationship. There were three roads now, and there was one that she dare not tread. She could not go back to the nothingness of the week before the Halloween ball. It had been awful. She had not had a purpose. During the lulls of her occupation, she often felt disconnected to everything. It was like she was floating in the world, able to disappear at any moment and no one would ever know.

Draco looked at her blankly. He was thinking. It was easy with other girls. They were easy. They wanted the prestige of being associated with him. He gave them a taste of it before taking it away. Raiko though… Raiko he wanted to keep a secret. He wanted her all for himself. She was like a new toy that he didn't want to share, although he frowned at the analogy. He stood up and took the two steps needed to close the distance. She looked up at him, her face showing that she was unsure of what he was about to do.

Draco stretched out a hand to her. She placed her hand in his slowly. He pulled her up in a fluid motion. He marveled at how small she looked next to him. "You wouldn't mind… reminding me every once in a while? I'm used to…ah… fast pace relationships."

Raiko smiled into his chest, her arms around his back. "No, I won't mind." She looked up at him, "But it will be okay sometimes… to go a little bit faster than normal."

Draco grinned. "Be warned, you'll have to fight off some nasty Slytherin girls."

She scoffed. "I'm faster, more intelligent, and more cunning than anyone who thinks they can take me down. Besides…" Her voice dropped surprisingly low, and even she thought so. "I like a challenge."

That was all he could take before he brought his lips down upon hers for another earth shattering kiss. When he broke away, she followed him just a little, opening her eyes and blushing. Her arms moved from around his neck (where they had moved during the kiss) down to his hands on her waist. She grabbed his hands and moved toward the large window. She sat down, and he followed behind her, his arms around her waist and his head resting on her shoulder, occasionally blowing or nibbling or kissing the tender flesh. She allowed herself to lean into his chest, staring out the window and watching the snow fall.

Draco whispered in her ear, causing her to giggle as the fine hairs on her neck swayed. "I have something for you too." He pulled out a box and let a fine cord string around her neck, a small diamond it's only decoration.

Raiko gasped at the simple beauty of it, "Oh Draco, you know I can't acce-"

The stern look in his eyes silenced her. "Stupid, stubborn Guy."

He chuckled, causing her to shiver as she felt him move behind her. "That's redundant."

"And repetitive," she quipped.

"And redundant."

"And repetitive."

"And redundant."

"What are we going to do about dinner?"

He looked at her, confused.

She sighed, "I mean, won't it look a little odd if we are sitting next to each other, even with the one table thing. And _you'v_e never been here for Christmas, and _I've_ never been here for Christmas and-" Her voice was cut off by Draco's lips.

"You think too much."

"That goes without saying."

….. Draco was silent as he watched the snow whip about, becoming more forceful and rattling the glass panes.

"What are you thinking?"

"That you think too much."


End file.
